The BLAD of RWBY and JNPR
by Black Fuego
Summary: What would be a good type of song for Beacon Academy? How about a Ballad? Join team BLAD, along with teams RWBY and JNPR as they work hard to become the best group of hunters in Beacon. Adventure, humor and even some romance await this group of 12 as they study and train to hunt monsters. WeissxOC, JauneXPyrrha, RenXNora and mentions of RubyxOC
1. Welcome to Beacon

Yo, mates, Black Fuego here with the first chapter of my first story: The BLAD of RWBY and JNPR. This story will follow the RWBY storyline for the most part, but there will be changes thanks to the addition of my O.C team: BLAD, pronounced as ballad. Some of these changes include an additional story arc or two centered on BLAD. Just so you guys are aware, some of the major characters in RWBY will be a bit OOC, mainly Weiss. From what I've understand, her personality is the way it is in the show because of the hard life she had as a kid. She even admits herself that she did not have an easy childhood. The Weiss in this story will be a bit friendlier and nicer to others because she spent a lot of her time with her godparents and their family, and is even best friends with their eldest son, Baltazar. She will retain some of her 'stuck-up rich girl' attitude, but to a lesser degree. Without further ado, let the story begin!

Disclaimer: I don't own the RWBY series, but I did pre-order the DVD and I can't wait for it.

"Hi" Talking  
"_Hi_" Thinking  
"_Hola_" Talking in a different language

The BLAD of RWBY and JNPR: Chapter 1, Welcome to Beacon

"Wow, what a view," A young man said while looking out the window of the airship he and the other potential hunters are in with a small smile on his face, "I'll never get tired of high views like this."

The young man's name is Baltazar Azul, a graduate of Signal Academy and one of the many heirs of the famous weapons and armor forging company, Azure Armory Inc. He has brown eyes with a small horizontal scar under his right eye, brown skin and short, black hair in a flat top. He is dressed in a black collar polo shirt, dark blue pants, black and blue shoes and a short sleeve dark blue trench coat with blue lightning design at the end of the cloak and sleeves and the Azure symbol, a large blue lightning bolt with three black stripes on it inside a circle, on the back. He carries a sheathed katana on his left side, a rectangular black case strapped on his lower back and a small pouch right below the case. He also wears a pair of blue framed glasses, a white necklace with an intricate snowflake design and a pair of fingerless gloves with a pair of blue folded gauntlets on his arms.

The young huntsman in training continues to look down from the window and admire the view. He always did like being in high places, yet for some reason his little brother or parents don't like heights all that much. His little sister doesn't have much of an opinion on them, but she's never rode in airships as much as the others have. He shrugged his shoulders and decided to wander around the airship when he heard a pair of familiar voices. Turning around he smiles and sees his friend Yang, a fiery blonde girl with lilac eyes, a small yellow shirt with a brown vest and orange scarf, short shorts with a white back skirt, and a pair of long boots, hugging her little sister Ruby, a hyperactive and innocent reddish black haired girl with silver eyes, a black blouse, red hooded cloak and a black skirt with red trimmings with a proud look on her face, while Ruby herself look quite uncomfortable.

Baltazar chuckled at the sight before walking over to them. He had known those two since he first moved to Vale three and a half years ago, and hung out with Yang often during their time in Signal. The two of them have been through a lot together over the years and conceder each other as very close friends, almost like siblings. Baltazar also thinks of Ruby like another little sister, and enjoys spending time with her, while Ruby sees him as an older brother and has been calling him Bro as of late. Ruby is also best friends with Cody, Baltazar's little brother, and both have slight crushes on each other yet were oblivious to them, much to their older siblings' amusement.

"Hey! Sparky! Over here!" Yang called as soon as she saw him, using the name he obtained with his skills in Signal. Baltazar's eye twitched a little, silently wondering why Yang kept calling him that after all this time.

"_I wish she stopped calling me that,_" Baltazar thought sadly as he got closer to the sisters, "_oh well, at least it's better than what Cody use to call me. Or worse...what Levy use to call me."_

"Good, you're here," Yang said with a smile, "Now we can have a group hug!"

Baltazar chucked again and looked at Ruby who was still looking very uncomfortable in this situation. He knew that Ruby was a very skilled huntress with all the training she did with Professor Qrow, but he never imagined that she would be joining him and Yang to Beacon. It made him proud to see her climbing up in the ranks so fast and it reminds him of how Cody managed to get an early admittance as well with Signal.

"Heh heh, Alright, I'm in," Baltazar said with a grin, and proceeded to give the little monster hunter a hug along with her sister, much to Ruby's embarrassment.

"Oh, I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with us!" Yang exclaimed while squeezing the life out of her sister, "This is the best day ever!"

"Please stop," Ruby gasped, feeling both embarrassed and annoyed by her sister and brother figure.

"But I'm so proud of you!" Yang replied after she and Baltazar let go of Ruby, practically jumping in excitement, "Aren't you proud of her too, Sparky?"

Baltazar nods and pats Ruby's head, "Yup, very proud. Reminds me of when Cody got accepted to Signal early."

"Really you guys, it was nothing," Ruby grumbled while swatting Baltazar's hand away.

Yang looked shocked, while Baltazar raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean?" Yang questioned, "It was incredible! Everyone at Beacon is going to think you're the bee's knees."

Baltazar had to hold back a snicker after hearing that. "_'Bee's knees'?_" he thought, "_Who says that anymore?"_

"I don't want to be the 'bee's knees', okay?" Ruby answered exasperatedly, "I don't want to be any kind of knees! I just want to be a normal girl with normal knees."

Noticing the lack of enthusiasm in the young girl's form, Yang and Baltazar shared a look of worry to each other before Yang asked, "What's wrong with you? Aren't you excited?"

"Of course I'm excited... I just..." Ruby sighed before looking down, "I got moved ahead two years. I don't want people to think I'm special or anything."

"_Ah,_" Baltazar understood, "_She's worried that the other students are going to treat her differently because she skipped a couple grades. Cody went through this too if I remember right."_

He and Yang smiled gently at Ruby, before walking up to her and proceeded to give her one arm hugs, Yang on the right and Baltazar on the left.

"But you are special," Yang said gently, causing Ruby to look at her.

"She's right," Baltazar agreed, catching Ruby's attention this time, "What you did to those criminals in town showed Beacon's headmaster just how special you are. You've impressed the man enough that he got you into his school earlier than everyone here," Baltazar gestured to the other students in the airship, "Being special is not always a bad thing, especially not in this case. You're making your friends and parents proud by coming here early with us. Just relax and do your best, _hermanita_, and know that we're all very happy that you're heading to Beacon."

Ruby just stared at her older brother figure, amazed by his little speech. Yang was surprised too, but for a different reason.

"Wow Baltazar," Yang said, using his real name to prove how surprised she was, "I've rarely hear you say something like that before. Hell, I've hardly ever hear you talk that much without stuttering or losing your place before," She then moved closer to him with a grin on her face, "I thought you didn't like public speaking. Have those speech lessons your Pop made me give you paid off or were you just in a mood to help out your future sister-in-law?"

Baltazar blushed slightly and gave the blond a sheepish grin while scratching the back of his neck, while Ruby's face ended up matching her namesake and looked at her sister like she was crazy.

"Y-Yang!" Ruby stuttered, "H-How many times do I have to tell you? Cody and I are not getting married! We haven't even started dating yet!"

"Key word being 'yet', _cuñada,_" Baltazar teased, causing Ruby to blush even further and Yang to laugh.

He and Yang love to tease Ruby and Cody about their relationship, although Yang teases Cody more than Baltazar does. The two of them know that their little siblings like each other and both knew that it was only a matter of time before they start dating. They've even made bets on who will confess first and where would the first date be.

Baltazar was about to tease the flustered girl more when he saw a familiar symbol shown on the Vale Newscast Channel that caused him to frown, the symbol of the White Fang.

He sighed, remembering all the trouble that organization caused for his grandfather's company and the company of his best business partner. Baltazar knew what the White Fang was, sympathized with them and even understood why they do what they do, but he didn't like their methods of getting the point across. They're just too violent at times and are willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Baltazar himself is like that at times but not to the extremeness of White Fang. "_You guys use to be a peaceful group from what Pop said, but then you guys started to get violent in your protests_," He thought grimly, "_I understand why you're doing those things, but they're still criminal acts, no matter how you look at it. As __Abuelito__ always said; the ends don't justify the means. I learned that lesson the hard way not that long ago."_

He was brought out of his thought when the Newscast channel was interrupted, and replaced with a hologram of a blonde haired woman with green eyes, a white suit shirt, black business skirt and a torn purple cape. Apparently the hologram got the attention of everyone else in the airship, even those who weren't paying attention to the news.

"Hello, and welcome to Beacon!" the hologram announced.

"Who's that?" Yang asked.

"No idea," Baltazar answered.

"My name is Glynda Goodwitch."

"Oh," The two said at the same time, causing Ruby to giggle a little.

Glynda continued, "You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy! Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world."

As Glynda's hologram disappeared, the students all gathered around the window to see the City of Vale below them and Beacon Academy close by.

Ruby also looked out at the window in excitement, "Oh wow! Look guys, you can see Signal from up here!" She exclaimed while watching the town go by.

"Really?" Baltazar wondered, "We're getting pretty close to Beacon. How high are we if we could see Signal from here? That place is back over on Patch Island."

"Oh hush," Yang scolded, punching his arm lightly, "Let Sis enjoy herself a little."

Baltazar put his hands up in surrender as Ruby continued to look out the window and check out the town of Vale.

"I guess home isn't too far after all!" Ruby said amazement still in her voice.

Yang walk to Ruby, giving her another one arm hug while Baltazar walked over, arms crossed, and stood next to her and look down at her with a smile.

"Beacon's our home now," Yang said, with Baltazar nodding in agreement.

The three then hear someone groaning and turned to see a blonde haired boy their age in a black hoodie with white armor pads, a pair of blue jeans and a sword with a white sheath, hunched over looking like he was about to lose his lunch. As he ran past the trio, the sisters looked at him with a bit of disappointment while the lone male of the group looked at the troubled soul with sympathy.

"Well…I guess the view isn't for everyone," Yang said, rolling her eyes.

"It was nice while it lasted" Ruby replied, a little annoyed now that their moment was gone.

"Be nice you two," Baltazar told them, "Motion sickness is not a fun thing to have. Trust me, it sucks."

The three of them looked out the window again, and see that they're nearing Beacon Academy.

"Well we're almost there, girls," Baltazar smiled, looking at the school.

"I wonder who we're gonna meet?!" Ruby asked excitedly.

Yang groaned, "I hope they're better than Vomit Boy."

Baltazar just shook his head at the blond and began to walk away from them, "Well I'm going to go see if the guy's ok. See you two in a bit," then he paused for a moment, "Oh, and Yang?"

"What?"

"Look down," He grinned while pointing at the floor.

Yang and Ruby looked down and became immediately freaked out.

Ruby shouted, "Oh, Yang, gross! You have puke on your shoe!"

Baltazar began laughing as he walked away, enjoying the sounds of Yang freaking out and Ruby trying to get away from her. He kept walking until he reached the bathroom, and heard the telltale signs of someone puking their guts out.

He knocked on the door and asked the boy if he was alright. All he got for a response was more groaning. "If you want, I can help you. I got something in my pouch that should help."

The door opened to reveal the blond boy, still clutching his stomach with a pained look on his face.

"Please," he rasped, acting like he was going to die at any moment, "Help me. I don't know how much more of this I can take."

Rolling his eyes a little at the overdramatic display, Baltazar reached into his pouch to pull out a small canister of pills and a water bottle. He took out two and gave them and the water to the blond, which he took gratefully. After a couple moments, the blonde began to feel much better.

"Whew," he said, "I'm feeling so much better now. Thanks!"

"No worries mate," Baltazar replied, "I knew how much you were suffering, so I figured I'd help out."

"You have motion sickness too?" The taller boy asked in shock.

"Sea sickness to be exact," Baltazar explained, "Those pills are made to deal with all kinds of motion sickness though, so it's ok. My brother uses them do deal with his car sickness."

The blond nodded in understanding, "Well thanks for the help, I really appreciate it," He held out his hand and smiled, "The name's Jaune. Jaune Arc."

Baltazar smiled as well and shook Jaune's hand, "Baltazar Azul."

He then began walking back to the girls, "Come with me and I'll introduce you to my friends," he paused before giving a warning, "Just so you know. As you ran to the bathroom, you accidentally puked on one of my friend's shoes. I thought it was funny personally, but don't be surprised if a pretty blonde girl shows up and knocks you around for that."

Jaune dropped his head in depression as he followed the coat wearing teen, "Oh great, not even off the plane yet and I screwed up."

Baltazar pat his new friend's shoulder, "Relax mate, it could have been worse."

"How?" Jaune asked, looking down at the shorter teen.

"You could've puked on her hair," Baltazar answered before shuddering, "May God have mercy on your soul if you did. Last guy who messed with her hair nearly had his head blown off. I'm surprised his neck didn't snap to be honest…"

Jaune paled and started to sweat a little after hearing that, "Baltazar, you friend sounds really scary, and you want me to meet her?! Oh God what have I gotten myself into? "

Baltazar just stared at Jaune for a moment before replying, "I ask myself the same question every now and again when it comes to Yang. And just so you know, she scares me too."

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

After introducing Jaune to the girls, and Jaune getting a few threats from Yang in the process, the airship started to descend, signaling everyone that they've arrived at Beacon. The airship landed and all the students departed, wanting to explore the campus a little. The group of four walked down the paved path and stopped after a short while to admire the view.

"Wow," all of them said together.

"This place looks amazing," Jaune said in awe.

"I guess _Tío _Chichi wasn't exaggerating when he was describing this place," Baltazar muttered.

"The view from Vale's got nothing on this!" Yang exclaimed, looking at the boys.

The three of them heard an excited gasp, and turned to see Ruby practically drooling over the different types of weapons the students have with stars in her eyes. "Ohmygosh, Sis! Look! That kid's got a collapsible staff! And she's got a fire sword!" She then practically floated away to see more weapons, while Yang excused herself to bring her sister back to reality.

"_If she's like this with the weapons here, she'd probably pass out if she saw the testing area and the vault back at Papymon's factory,_" Baltazar thought in amusement as Yang dragged Ruby back by her hood.

"Is she always like this?" Jaune whispered to Baltazar as Yang and Ruby talked to each other.

"Only when she sees a bunch of weapons," He answered as he heard a part of the sisters' conversation, "and speaking of weapons,"

Baltazar turned his head to the girls, confusing Jaune a little before he heard some mechanical noises and turned as well to see Ruby holding her weapon Crescent Rose, a fierce and dangerous looking scythe, like it was her baby.

"Holy!" Jaune nearly shouted, startled that someone like Ruby uses such a monstrous weapon like that.

"I know, right?" Baltazar chuckled at Jaune's reaction, "I've seen all sorts of weapons as I was growing up, but I've never seen anything like hers before."

They turn their attention back to the sisters, where they see Yang playfully pulling Ruby's hood over her head, telling her to make some new friends.

Ruby takes off her hood and asks, "But…why do I need friends when I have you and Baltazar?"

Baltazar was about to say something when his ears picked up the sound of a lot of people coming towards them.

"Uh oh," he muttered, gaining another confused look from Jaune.

"Well…" Yang began as a large group of students surrounded her, "Actually, my friends are here now, bye!"

Yang and her friends left quickly in a cloud of dust, leaving behind a stunned Jaune, a coughing Baltazar and a dizzy Ruby.

"What…just happened?" Jaune couldn't help but asked.

"Nothing much," Baltazar coughed out, "Just Yang being Yang."

*_Crash_*

"Hey! Be careful!"

The boys became startled for a little bit before looking to see what the commotion was. What they saw was Ruby laying on the floor with a luggage cart and a bunch of cases surrounding her, with a white haired girl with an off-centered pony tail and a vertical scar on her left eye looking over her. The girl is wearing a pale blue jacket over a similarly colored thigh-length dress, white boots, a pair of rectangular earrings and a small black necklace that surprisingly has the same lightning bolt symbol Baltazar has on his coat. Similarly, the girl has a snowflake symbol on her jacket that's the same as the one on Baltazar's necklace.

"Oh I'm sorry!" Ruby apologizes as she gets up.

"It's ok, but you need to be more careful," the white haired girl scolded, "All these cases have Dust in them and you could have really hurt yourself because of that."

"Dust?" Ruby asked, picking up one of the cases.

"That's right! Dust," the girl then took the case from Ruby and began explaining what Dust was, taking a bottle of it and showing it to her. She also began shaking the bottle in front of Ruby, making a small cloud of it in front of the poor red cloaked girl's face. As the explanation went on Ruby began thinking about the girl in front of her, "_She looks so familiar. Have I seen her before?_"

While all this was taking place, Jaune and Baltazar just stood there, surprised and speechless of the turn of events, but for entirely different reasons.

"_Wow she's pretty,_" Jaune thought, "_I wonder if she as a boyfriend. Wait…that necklace she's wearing has the same lightning bolt design that Baltazar has on his coat. And that snowflake on her jacket looks like the one on his necklace,_" Jaune then turned his head to his quiet friend,_ "Do they know each other?"_

"Looks like some things never change," Baltazar said quietly with a small smile on his face, confirming Jaune's suspicion. Noticing the taller boy's look, he began explaining, "The white haired girl is my oldest and best friend, Weiss. The two of us practically grew up together, and she spent a lot of time at my home because her dad was often too busy with work," He then looked at the girls again, seeing Weiss taking out a bottle of Dust from the case Ruby had picked up, "Her family owns a very big energy company that mines Dust, and she's been surrounded by the stuff for all her life. Hell, the main reason I'm so familiar with it myself is because of her."

Jaune nodded in understanding, before curiosity came back to his face when he saw Baltazar wince, "What's wrong?"

"She's shaking the Dust bottle, and the cap's a little loose" Baltazar sighed, "It's a bad habit of hers. I better go and try to make her stop before she repeats history again. I suggest you stay here, Jaune. It might get a little…explosive in a bit."

Jaune had a worried look on his face as he watched his friend walk over to the girls and the Dust cloud. Baltazar stood next to Weiss and began trying to get her attention, but Weiss was too into her Dust discussion to listen to him or notice Ruby coughing a little in front of her. Getting a little frustrated that his best friend wasn't paying attention to what was happening around her, Baltazar took a deep breath and shouted her name, "WEISS!"

"What!" Weiss growled, annoyed at the guy that interrupted her explanation, but then became surprised by who interrupted her, "Huh? Bal-"

Before she could finished her sentence, Baltazar held his hand up, gaining another annoyed look from her, and pointed to Ruby, who looked like she was about to sneeze at any moment.

Weiss looked at Ruby, and paled as she noticed the Dust cloud surrounding them and that Ruby was going to sneeze into it. She looked at the bottle of Dust she was holding and realized that the cork wasn't tight enough and some of it went in the air. Looking at Baltazar and then at Ruby, Weiss hung her head in depression and sighed while she waited for the inevitable to happen. "Why me…"

Ruby finally sneezed, creating an explosion of fire, ice and lightning that surrounded the three of them. The explosion shocked Jaune so much that he stumbled on to the ground. As he picked himself up, he noticed a bottle of Dust flying out of the smoke and landed behind him, rolling to the feet of a girl his age who was reading a book. The girl has long, black hair with a bow on it and amber colored eyes with a bit of purple eye shadow on the ends. She's wearing a white sleeveless shirt that show's her midriff, a black vest, ribbons on her arms with an unattached sleeve and silver band on her left arm, low heeled boots and black to purple stockings. The girl picked up the bottle and stared at it for a bit before looking at where it originated from. Jaune couldn't help but notice that the shape of her eyes look similar to how Baltazar's are shaped.

"_I wonder if they're related?"_ he thought, _"they're eyes are shaped the same and they both have black hair."_

Jaune shook the thought out of his head, knowing that those characteristics were not enough to make such a conclusion. He then looked back at the explosion sight to see the smoke clearing, and that Ruby, Weiss and Baltazar all covered in soot.

"Ugh, unbelievable," Weiss complained as she removed the soot off her clothes, "Why does this only happen to me," she then turned to Baltazar, who was still covered in soot and covering his mouth to keep himself from laughing, "Oh don't you start, mister! May I remind you that you started this whole 'Explosive Dust' mess in the first place?!"

"Oh come on Weiss, it was funny," Baltazar chucked after calming down a little, "Besides, I only started the first one. Cody and Sarah were responsible for the other two," He then pointed at her with a big grin on his face, "This one was all you, though. I was trying to stop you before it was too late. Still, it was an awesome explosion! Hah hah!"

Weiss face palmed as soon as her best friend started to laugh again. "You explosive happy twit…" she muttered, "And will you please get that soot off of you! Seriously, we're at Beacon now, so we have to look nice and presentable at all times. I know you're cleaner than this, despite what your old bedroom says otherwise."

Baltazar pouted a little before he started getting the soot off his clothes, "Tch, alright already. Jeez you're starting to sound like Mom again."

Weiss smiled smugly, "That's because she's a smart woman and she asked me to look after you while we're here. Now hurry up and get yourself clean, or else I'll have to buy you new clothes with your 'special savings'," She finished, using air quotes when saying special savings.

"You're not touching my gaming money Weiss!" Baltazar glared as he tried to get the soot off his glasses.

As the two continue to argue, Ruby, now free of soot, just stared at the two of them with a mixture of nervousness and surprise. In the three, nearly four years she has known Baltazar, she has rarely ever seen him so animated before, even if it was arguing in this case. Usually he's laid-back, somewhat serious and a little lazy, but to see him this excited and energetic was quite rare.

"_In fact,_" she realized, "_He's been in a very good mood these past few weeks. Even new video games don't excite him this much. Is it because he knew he would meet that girl? And why in the world does she look so familiar?_" Before she got to into that thought, she stopped herself,"_Oh that's right, I better apologize for blowing up in front of her…literally. I hope she's not too mad._"

Ruby slowly approached the arguing pair, pressing her fingers nervously and tried to get their attention.

"Uhh, e-excuse me?" She asked Weiss, causing her and Baltazar to look at the slightly quivering girl, "I-I'm sorry for blowing us up. I-It was an accident. I'll make it up to you, I swear!" She finished while bowing her head.

Weiss looked at her in surprise before turning to Baltazar with a questioning look, only to receive a shrug in response. "It's fine, don't worry about it. If anything I blame that dolt over there for making it happen so often." She replied, pointing her thumb at said dolt, who began pouting again.

"It was only the first one…" he muttered.

"Anyway," Weiss continued, "Why are you here? No offense but aren't you a little young to be attending this academy? It's more than just sparring and practice. We're here to fight monsters," She paused for a moment and looked at Ruby some more, "Come to think of it, you look familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?"

Ruby had a short look of shock before replying, "N-No, at least I don't think so. You do look really familiar, though. Maybe we have seen each other, Princess."

Surprised slightly by the nickname, Weiss was about to respond before someone jumped in on the conversation.

"It's heiress actually."

The three of them turned to see the black haired girl with a bow on her head, holding Weiss's bottle of Dust, with Jaune following behind her.

"Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company," she continued, "One of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world."

"Is your family's company really that big?" Baltazar asked.

"You've been told this hundreds of times already when we were kids you dunce," Weiss muttered, "You seriously need to learn to pay attention better."

The bow girl continued, "The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners."

Jaune snickered a little in his hand, while Ruby's eyes went wide at the information. Weiss, on the other hand, was speechless; shocked that someone described her family's business in such a manner. She turned to Baltazar for support, but all he did was cross his arms and raised an eyebrow.

"What?" he asked, "It's not like she said anything that wasn't true. You said yourself that you don't agree with how some of your family members treat the workers and that you hate most of the guys that your dad has to deal with in meetings."

"Well yeah, but she didn't have to put it like that!" Weiss shouted, shocking everyone, especially the black haired girl.

She then turned her attention to the bow wearing girl, "Do you mind if I take my Dust back? I need it for my weapon and from what I remember; my friend back there only carries Electric Dust."

The girl stared at Weiss for a little bit before shaking her head and returned the Dust.

"Thank you," Weiss said, "Now if you guys excuse me, I better get going. Maybe we'll see each other soon."

As the bow wearing girl watched the heiress walk away from the group, she noticed Baltazar staring at her. Looking at him, she surprised to see blue, cat-like eyes for a moment before they turned back to their normal brown form. Thinking that she was seeing things, the girl left the group to catch up on her reading.

Baltazar just stared at the bow wearing girl as she left, feeling something off about her. He felt his eyes change for a moment, but he managed to turn them back to normal before the others noticed…at least he hoped. He shrugged, figuring that he'll find out eventually. He then turned his attention to Ruby and Jaune, with an apologetic look on his face.

"Sorry guys, but I better go follow Weiss," He told the two, "Talking about her family's way of life always brings her mood down so I'm gonna try and cheer her up," He then gave the two a map, "This shows where we're gonna meet. See you guys there, ok?"

Before leaving, he looked over at Weiss's luggage cart and cases, noticing that her dad's servants were already cleaning up the mess and asked if they needed help.

The servants shook their heads and one of them replied, "It is fine, Mr. Azul. Don't mind us. Just go and comfort Ms. Weiss for us ok?" The servant then gave Baltazar a small smile, "Also, it nice to see you again."

Baltazar gave him a smile as well, "It's nice to see you again too, Mr. Mooks." And with that he disappeared in a flash of blue light and sparks.

Jaune just stared with his mouth open, pointing at where Baltazar was, while Ruby just shook her head.

"Well…"Ruby started, "I guess we should head to the meeting place now. Are you coming with me Jaune?"

Hearing his new friend's voice snapped Jaune out of his shock and followed the younger girl to their destination. "Lead the way, Crater Face."

"HEY!"

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

Weiss walked down the path to the auditorium, the meeting place for new students, in a depressed mood, something that happens often when she talks or hears about her family's less than admirable traits.

"She may have a point," Weiss muttered to herself, "but she didn't have the right to announce it to a bunch of strangers."

She stopped, and looked up at the sky, "I hope things are ok back home. The White Fang's been very active lately, and I think that there might be another Dust raid from them soon."

Weiss is not the biggest fan of White Fang due to how much trouble they've caused her family over the years. But, unlike the majority of her family, Weiss was more open-minded, and she is able to sympathize with the group, but only a little. She understood that the Faunus group wanted to be recognized as people and their resentment to the Schnee Dust Company because of their discriminate views of Faunus, but that was not a reason to steal, hurt or even kill innocent people, no matter what the end result was.

"It's like Mr. Morado use to say," She whispered, "The ends don't justify the means."

"Abuelito was a smart old man, wasn't he?" Baltazar asked.

"Yeah," Weiss responded absentmindedly before blinking a couple times, and turned around quickly to see her best friend standing very close to her.

"Hi!"

"Kya!" She screamed, and would have fallen to the ground if Baltazar hadn't caught her by the waist.

"Whoa there girl," Baltazar chuckled as he held the heiress, "Thought you'd be used to this by now."

Weiss glared at him with slight blush on her face, "You really need to stop sneaking up on people. You know I hate it when you do that."

"Heh heh, sorry," he apologized as he set Weiss down. Looking at her he noticed that while she was still upset, she wasn't as depressed as she was earlier. "You feeling better now?"

"…A little," Weiss said, looking down at the ground, "I know that my family has a mixed reputation, but it still hurts to hear about the negative actions that they've done," She then shook her head and sighed, "You could of at least defended yourself a little back there you know. Your grandfather's one of Dad's business partners too, remember? Can you honestly say that your family does 'questionable' acts like she was implying?"

All she got in response was a deadpan stare.

"Right…I forgot," Weiss muttered to herself in embarrassment. "I shouldn't let this get to me anymore. I should be focusing on my studies and training. If I'm going to be a successful huntress like Mom was and prove the others wrong, then I need to be at my best at all times."

"Just make sure you don't overwork yourself again," Baltazar warned, "Like what Mom did with you, Mr. Schnee asked me to look after you while we're here. I know how dedicated you are at being a huntress and how much work you put into your training, but you need to remember to take it easy and relax every once in a while, otherwise you'll burn yourself out and all the work you've done will be wasted," he then looked down at the floor as well, "I can't stand seeing you hurt or upset, so let me help every once in a while, ok?"

Weiss said nothing, taking in the words of her childhood friend. After a moment, she walked up to Baltazar and gave him a hug. Baltazar himself was a little surprised by the action, knowing that Weiss was not one to do such things often, but relaxed and hugged her back.

"…Thanks Baltazar," Weiss muttered in his shirt, "For everything."

"No worries, Weiss. Anytime," Baltazar whispered, tightening the hug a little.

The two broke apart and began walking to the auditorium together. As they were walking, Weiss began giggling a little, gaining a confused look from the black haired teen.

"What's up?" He asked.

"Oh nothing," Weiss giggled again, "Just surprised by how much your speech has gotten better over the years. You use to stutter and messed up your words a lot when we were kids. I got to say, it's a much better improvement."

"Oh come on, not this again," Baltazar groaned, causing Weiss to laugh, "First it was Pop, then Yang, and now you? I was learning two languages at the same time, remember? Of course my speech was bad as a kid! You try learning two languages at the same time!"

"Your brother was learning two languages as well and he had better speech than you did," Weiss retorted, "And I know the same languages you know because of how often I stayed with your family. That excuse won't work for me and you know it."

Baltazar tried to think of a retort, but came up with nothing. She knew him too well, even after not being able to see each other as often for the past three years. He hung his head down in defeat, "I can never win an argument with you, can I?"

Weiss smirked, "Nope! And you never will."

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

Ruby and Jaune walked down the path to the auditorium, talking about random subjects and showing each other's weapons. The two learned quite a bit about each other, such as Ruby creating Crescent Rose and Jaune being a descendent of a war veteran. The two of them got along great and both agreed that this was a beginning of a good friendship. As they went inside the auditorium, the two of them saw Yang waving at them, but no sign of Baltazar or Weiss.

"Ruby! Over here!" Yang shouted, "I saved you a spot!"

"Thanks Sis!" Ruby yelled back, "I got to go. See you after the ceremony, ok?"

"Yeah, sure thing," Jaune said as he watch the young girl run to her sister and sighed, "Well that was fun, but where am I going to find another nice, quirky girl to talk to?" Jaune walked to a random spot of the auditorium, not noticing a red haired girl in Amazonian armor looking at him curiously.

"How's your first day going, little sister?" Yang asked.

"Oh, you mean after you ditched me and I exploded?" Ruby glared.

"Yikes; meltdown already?" Yang winced.

"No!" Ruby shouted, "I literally exploded a hole in front of the school! And there was some fire, and I think some ice..?"

Yang grinned broadly, "Are you being sarcastic?"

Ruby scoffs, "I wish! I tripped over some nice but crabby girl's luggage who looked really familiar, and then she yelled at me, and then Baltazar came, and then I sneezed, and then I exploded, and then she and Baltazar started yelled at each other, and I felt really, really bad, and I just wanted them to stop yelling!"

During her small rant, neither Ruby nor Yang notice Weiss or Baltazar standing behind them, listening to everything Ruby said. While Baltazar was amused by how she was describing what happened earlier, Weiss became annoyed by one particular comment the young girl said about her.

"_Crabby? How dare she!_" Weiss thought angrily as she glared at the unsuspecting huntress to be, "_Sure I can be a bit difficult, but I'm not crabby! My aunts are crabby, not me! And when was I yelling at her? All I did was informed her about Dust!_" She then began to smirk a little, "_Fine, if she thinks I'm crabby then I'll show her how crabby I can be._"

Baltazar looked down at Weiss and noticed the vindictive smirk on her face. "Oh boy," he muttered, "Here we go."

"YOU!" Weiss shouted, scaring Ruby to death.

"EEK!" Ruby jumped into Yang's arms, "Oh God, it's happening again!"

"You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!" Weiss continued, pointing at the frightened girl.

"…Would of made one hell of a cliff dive though," Baltazar muttered quietly to himself, though the girls heard him clearly.

Weiss turned her glare to her friend, "And we would have died idiot!"

Yang turned to the scared girl in her arms in surprised, "Oh my God, you really exploded."

"Hey Baltazar!" Jaune called, catching the shorter teen's attention.

"Hey Jaune," Baltazar replied back, walking to his new friend, "What's up?"

"Eh, nothing much," Jaune shrugged and looks over at the girls. "What going on there?"

Baltazar sighed, "Just Weiss being difficult. She gets like this sometimes whenever someone insults her behind her back and she hears it." He turns around and see said girl holding a pamphlet to a horribly confused Ruby, "And now she's doing the 'Dust for Dummies' thing again. She must be really annoyed this time."

Jaune just stared at the scene in front of him, not sure of what to make of it. "And you grew up with her?" He couldn't help but ask, "You must have had a hard time growing up with her as a best friend."

"My life was kind of hard," Baltazar conformed, "but it wasn't because of her." He sighed and held his necklace gently, "In fact, my life would have been worse if it wasn't for her. And I have no doubt she would say the same about her life. We treasure our friendship, and we try our hardest not to let anything break it." He then smiled, "She may look like a cold and harsh person, but she's actually very sweet once you get to know her. Like ice cream."

"…Ice cream?" Jaune couldn't help but ask.

"Yup," Baltazar answered with a grin, "Vanilla ice cream to be exact."

The two then turned their attention back to the girls and see Ruby try and re-introduce herself to Weiss.

They could feel the sarcasm in Weiss's tone, "Yeah! And we can paint our nails and try on clothes and talk about cute boys, like tall, blonde, and scraggly or fast, sweet, and sensitive over there."

The boys blush a little after being called cute, but Jaune became a little ticked at being insulted. He did notice, however, that Weiss didn't say anything bad about Baltazar. In fact, she called him 'sweet' and 'sensitive'. "_Must be one of those best friend privileges,_" he thought, "_She didn't sound as sarcastic when she said that either…did she mean it?_" He looked at the shorter teen and noticed he was still blushing and not moving at all. "_He must have thought the same thing as well. I wonder…_"

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a microphone being tested. He and everyone else in the auditorium turned to see the headmaster of Beacon, Professor Ozpin, a man with silver hair, brown eyes with black glasses, an open suit over a vest and green shirt, white gloves and a pair of dark green pants, preparing to speak.

"I'll... keep this brief," Ozpin began, "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge - to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction." This caused several of the students to talk amongst themselves, "You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

As he leaves, Glynda, who was standing next to Ozpin, takes the mic. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

As the students begin to leave, Yang, Ruby, Weiss, Jaune and Baltazar began to talk amongst themselves.

"He seemed kind of…off," Yang said.

Ruby and the others agreed. "It was like he wasn't even there."

"His speech kind of depressed me a little to be honest," Jaune admitted.

"Well…At least he's honest. That's got to count for something, right?" Baltazar asked.

"I don't think it does. Not in this case at least," Weiss replied.

The five of them just stood together in silence, wondering what was with Ozpin when he made that speech. The silence only lasted for a few moments until Yang remembered something.

"So…" she began, looking at Weiss, "'Sweet and sensitive' eh? Didn't know you had a thing for your best friend there, Nievita," She finished with a big grin on her face.

The result was instantaneous; Weiss and Baltazar both jumped and looked at Yang with bright blushes on their faces, Jaune began laughing hard, and Ruby's eyes went wide as she remembered where she had seen Weiss before.

"Wait, you're Nievita!?" Ruby exclaimed, pointing at the very red Weiss, "No wonder you looked so familiar! I've seen you in a couple pictures in Baltazar and Cody's room every time we visit."

"Yup, that right Sis," Yang conformed, "Leti even showed us a photo album with her and Sparky together when they were kids and she always called her Nievita whenever she's talking about her, remember? It was when Cody and Baltazar left with their uncle and sister to some tropical island for the summer a couple years back."

"Oh I remember that!" Ruby shouted and turned to the still blushing teens, "You two looked so cute together in those pictures, playing in the grass and sleeping on the sofa and…"

The two of them blushed even more as Ruby continued to list off the different pictures that she's seen in the photo book. Jaune at this point was laughing so hard that he was using Yang to keep himself up, while Yang just kept looking at the scene with a big grin. "_I've never seen Sparky so embarrassed before. I'm gonna milk this for all it's worth_."

"I thought you said Aunt Leti didn't have a photo album!" Weiss hissed a Baltazar.

"I thought so too!" Baltazar hissed back, "Mom must have borrowed one from _Tía_ Emma or something, I Don't Know!" He then sighed in an attempt to calm himself down. "Oh well, at least Ruby didn't mention the re-"

"Don't even think about mentioning that!" Weiss shouted with her blush back full force, making Baltazar jump a good couple of feet in surprise.

This caused everyone else to laugh, Jaune and Yang holding each other for support and Ruby actually rolling on the floor laughing her head off. While all this was happening a girl their age was looking at the group with analyzing eyes, particularly Weiss. The girl had long platinum blonde hair in a ponytail, pale skin with green eyes and a small mole under her left eye, a dark green mandarin gown that ends at her knees with a picture of a gem shaped pentagon with two arrows in the form of an X on the right shoulder, tight black shorts, a pair of running sandals, and a gold colored scarf similar to Yang's. She also possesses a large cylindrical bag strapped to her back and a pair of curved knives in holsters latched to her lower back.

The girl continued to look at Weiss with an intense gaze, memorizing what she looks like. After a few moments, her eyes grew wide in shock for a moment as if remembering something.

"It IS her," she said quietly, "The white haired girl from before. No one else in this school has hair like that. Never thought I'd see her here of all places." She crossed her arms and looked at the other members of the group, and noticed something about Baltazar's appearance. "He has the same hair, eyes and skin tone as that little girl the white haired one was with. Could that be one of the brothers the little one was talking about?"

Smiling to herself, the blonde decided to head to the ballroom to get ready for bed. As she left, she looked at the group one more time.

"This is going to be a fun year."

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

Night soon came to Beacon academy, and nearly every freshman student can be found wearing their sleeping wear in the ballroom. Ruby is laying down on her sleeping bag, wearing a brown tank top with a heart shaped Beowolf on it, rose patterned sweats and a Beowolf eyed sleeping mask on her head, writing something on a piece of paper.

"It's like a big slumber party!" Yang exclaimed as she jumped into her sleeping bag next to Ruby, wearing only and orange tank top with her fire heart symbol on it and brown short shorts.

"I don't think Dad would approve of all the boys, though." Ruby replied, not looking at her sister.

"I know I do," Yang purred as she watched some boys on the other side messing around. She continued to look at them until she noticed something, "Hey…where's-"

"Enjoying the view there, Yang?" a voiced asked, startling the sisters.

Yang and Ruby jumped and screamed a little, and looked to see a smug looking Baltazar and a depressed looking Jaune standing near them. Baltazar is without his glasses, wearing a black t-shirt with his family's striped bolt symbol on the center and a pair of blue plaid sweats, while Jaune was in a plain white t-shirt and a pair of blue shorts.

"Dammit Sparky, stop doing that!" Yang yelled at the black haired teen, only getting a chuckle in response. She then turned to Jaune and noticed his depressed state, "What's up with him?"

"He's just upset that he forgot to pack his favorite set of P.J.s before coming here," Baltazar answered simply, gaining a slight glare from Jaune. He looked down and saw Ruby had gone back to her writing. "Whatchya doing, Rubes?"

"Just writing to Cody and the gang back at Signal," Ruby said, not seeing the looks that her sister and brother figure had, "I promised to tell them all about Beacon and how things are going."

"Notice how she separated Cody from the others," Baltazar snickered to Jaune and Yang, making Ruby blush, "Something tells me that she's going to write a separate letter just for him later."

"Aww," Yang squealed, making Ruby blush further, "My baby sister's writing a special letter to her boyfriend! That's so cuuuuute!"

"Shut up!" Ruby shouted, throwing her pillows at Yang and Baltazar's faces, "I didn't get to take my friends with me to school like you two did! It's weird not knowing anyone here!"

"Hey, what about me?" Jaune asked feeling a little left out of the conversation.

"Yeah Sis," Yang agreed, making Jaune smile a little, "What about Jaune. He's nice. There you go! Plus one friend, that's a hundred percent increase!"

"Why do I feel like you just insulted my love for RPGs there, Yang?" Baltazar grumbled, causing Yang to smile apologetically at him.

"I'm pretty sure Weiss count's as a negative friend," Ruby sighed as she turned over on her back, making Baltazar wince a little, "Back to zero…"

"There's no such thing as negative friends!" Yang tried to reassure, "You just made one friend and one enemy!" She was given a dog faced pillow to the face as a response.

"Yeah…sorry about Weiss," Baltazar apologized as he and Jaune sat down next to the girls, "She heard you call her crabby and she hates it when people insult her behind her back. Make's her think that she's like the…jerks in her family. She'll get over it eventually but until then, you're on her bad list for a little while."

"Speaking from personal experience there?" Jaune asked.

"She wouldn't talk to me for almost a month after I called her a witch like one of her aunts by accident when we were ten." Baltazar sighed sadly, depressing Ruby even more.

"Listen Ruby," Yang said, trying to get her sister's attention, "It's only been one day. Trust me; you've got friends all around you! You just haven't met them yet!"

"Huh. Sounds like something my mom would say," Jaune said.

"Your mom's a smart woman then, Jauney-Boy" Yang replied with a smile, making Jaune smile as well.

The four of them hear notice something glowing to the side, and turn to see the bow wearing girl in a black sleeping yukata with a candle next to her and reading a book.

"That girl…" Ruby muttered.

Yang gave her little sister a questioning glance, "You know her?"

Ruby shook her head, "Not really. She saw what happened this morning, but left before any of us could say anything."

Yang turned her head to the guys and saw them nod in conformation. "Well," She started, standing up, "Now's your chance." She then grabbed Ruby's hand and dragged her to the reading girl.

The guys just sat there, not sure what to do. Jaune looked at Baltazar and asked, "Should we follow them?"

Baltazar shrugged, "Might as well. I've got a funny feeling about her anyways."

The two got up and followed the girls. By the time they got to them, the two were whispering to each other.

"What are you doing?" Yang asked.

"I don't know, Help Me!" Ruby exclaimed.

The two then turned and smiled at the black haired girl in front of them as Yang asked, "So…what's your name?"

The girl sighed, irritated at being interrupted again, "Blake."

Yang smiled, "Well, Blake, I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister!" She then pointed at Jaune, who looked a little nervous, "That there is our friend Jaune," then at Baltazar, who was staring at Blake curiously, "and he's our future brother in law, Baltazar!" That last comment caused Ruby to blush again.

"Uh…Hi?" Jaune greeted nervously.

"Yo," Baltazar greeted as well, his eyes still curious.

"Not now Sis," Ruby muttered, embarrassed.

"I like your bow!" Yang said suddenly.

"Thanks…" Blake replied irritated

"It goes great with your…pajamas!"

"Right…"

Yang tried one more time, "Nice night, don't you think?"

Blake, fed up with her persistence, replied, "Yes, it's lovely! Almost as lovely as this book!"

The four stood there, not sure what to do.

"That I will continue to read." Blake continued on.

The others still didn't move.

"As soon as you leave!" She finished with a glare.

"Yeah, this girl's a lost cause," Yang muttered to the others.

"Don't be rude," Baltazar and Jaune said at the same time.

"What's it about?" Ruby asked, gaining the attention of the others?

Blake looked up in surprise, "Huh?"

"Your book," Ruby clarified, "Does it have a name?"

"W-Well…" Blake stuttered, "I-It's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control of the body."

"That sounds familiar," Jaune muttered, gaining a look of surprise from Blake, "I think I read that book not that long ago before coming here."

"Oh yeah," Yang said sarcastically, "That sounds really lovely!"

"Yang, be nice!" Baltazar glared at the blonde, making her put her hands up in surrender.

Ruby spoke up, "I love books. Yang used to read to me every night before bed. Stories of heroes and monsters...they're one of the reasons I want to be a Huntress"

Blake laughed a little, "And why's that? Hoping you'll live happily ever after?"

Ruby nodded, "Well, I'm hoping we all will. As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books...someone who fought for what was right, and protected people who couldn't protect themselves!"

Blake looked at her with a smile on her face, "That's...very ambitious for a child," her smile turned to a frown, "Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale." She looked up and noticed Baltazar looking at her with a look of sympathy and understanding.

Ruby smiled, "Well that's why we're here! To make it better."

She jumped a little when she heard the sounds of clapping. Turning around she saw Jaune and Baltazar giving her a round of applause.

"That was beautiful Ruby," Jaune said happily.

"Truer words have never been said, _hermanita_," Baltazar agreed.

Yang then ran up and hugged her into the air, "Oh I'm so proud of my baby sister!"

"Cut it out!" Ruby shouted and the two began to fight with each other, making a cloud of dust in the process.

"Does this happen a lot?" Jaune asked, pointing at the quarreling siblings.

"More than you think," Baltazar chuckled as he looked at the girls.

Blake also laughed at the sight, "Well, Ruby, Yang, Jaune, Baltazar, it was-"

"What in the world is going on over here?!" A familiar voice shouted, causing Baltazar to pale slightly. The five of them turned to see Weiss storming towards them in a blue nightgown and her hair down. "Don't you realize that people are trying to get some sleep?!"

She and Yang locked eyes and both shouted, "OH NOT YOU AGAIN!"

"Oh man here we go," Baltazar muttered and palmed his face as Weiss, and Yang began arguing and Ruby trying to stop them.

"Why can't we just get along?" Jaune whined, not wanting to deal with this. He turned his attention to the two black haired hunters in training, "I'm just gonna go to bed now. See you guys in the morning."

"Night, Jaune/Goodnight," the two said together as Jaune went to his sleeping bag.

"Well I need to get to bed too," Baltazar said as he looked at Blake, "I have habit of waking up really early sometimes and I want to get as much sleep as I can." He got up and offered his hand to Blake, "It was nice meeting you Blake. I wish you luck on tomorrow's event."

"Likewise," Blake smiled as she shook Baltazar's hand, "Have a good night."

Baltazar smiled and tuned to leave. Before he got too far, he looked at Blake again, and she could have sworn that his eyes were glowing blue for a moment. He was smiling at her and muttered something quietly, but she still managed to hear it.

"_Buenas noches gatita._"

With that, Baltazar walked back to his sleeping bag, leaving behind a confused Blake wondering what he said. She didn't recognize the language he spoke in, so she assumed he just said goodnight to her. Looking back at the arguing girls, Blake sighed and blew the candles out before going to bed. One final thought came to her mind as she blew the candles.

"_This year's going to be very interesting, isn't it_?"

Author's Note: And done. This here ends the first chapter of The BLAD of RWBY and JNPR. I'm quite surprised by how many words and pages it took to write this chapter; 37 pages and, not joking, over 9000 words, and I actually had thoughts about continuing on and start with the Emerald Forrest trial, but I didn't want to overdo it on the writing. I'm no Third Fang, not by a long shot. This is the most I've ever written at one time, and to be honest, I enjoyed writing and editing every word of it. Just so you guys are aware, there will be parings, the obvious one being WeissXBaltazar, but there will be lots of hints of RubyxCody in this story, mainly Ruby being teased about her crush by Yang and Baltazar. Other parings will include JaunexPyrrha and RenxNora, but Yang and Blake, along with the other members of BLAD: Levy, Ash, and Dia will remain single, at least for now. Also, remember that Weiss will be a little OOC in this story because of her history with Baltazar and his family, and the two went though much together before Baltazar had to go to Signal. Yang and Baltazar also went through some interesting trials while attending Signal, and share a strong sibling bond because of that. These events will be touched upon in this story, but they will be fully explained in the form of one-shots that I plan on writing in the near future. Expect chapter 2 to come out soon, but I will warn everyone that I don't have a set schedule for uploading. See you all next time.

Translations:

Hermanita: little sister

Cuñada: sister in law

Tío: uncle

Tía: aunt

"Buenas noches, gatita": "Good night, kitten"

Also, Leti's nickname for Weiss, Nievita, is derived from the word nieve, meaning snow.


	2. The Emerald Forest Part 1: Partnerships

Hello again everyone, Black Fuego here with the 2nd chapter of The BLAD of RWBY and JNPR. This one will cover everything from The First Step part 1 to the first part of The Emerald Forest. I originally planned to have this chapter go as far as Players and Pieces, but I felt like it would of made this chapter too long. Also, I went back and fixed chapter 1 up a little after looking over it again. Anyways, without further ado, here's Chapter 2!

Disclaimer: The RWBY series belongs to RoosterTeeth, I only one the characters and weapons that I made for this story…Although I do want Baltazar's weapons in real life.

"Hi" Talking  
_"Hi"_ Thinking  
'Hi' Reading  
_"__Hola__"_ Different language

The BLAD of RWBY and JNPR Chapter 2: The Emerald Forest part 1; Partnerships are Made

The sounds of birds chirping can be heard as Jaune woke up. He stretched and blinked the sleep out of his eyes as he looked around the room, noticing that most of the students are still asleep. He turned his head to a small clock he had with him and read the time.

"6:05, eh?" Jaune said quietly to himself, "No wonder everyone's still out. Initiation doesn't start until ten, and breakfast isn't served for another twenty five minutes."

Jaune was about to lay back down when he realized something. Baltazar, who was sleeping next to him last night, was nowhere to be seen. In fact, not even his sleeping bag was there. All that was left was a small folded piece of paper where his sleeping bag was. Jaune picked up the note and read it.

'Morning Jaune. Woke up at around five in the morning or so and decided to walk around campus for a bit before going to get breakfast. I hear they're serving pancakes too, so I'll hopefully be there. See you when I get back…if I don't get lost that is. Baltazar'

Jaune had a sweat-drop as he read this, "Jeez, when he said he had a habit of waking up early, he really meant it." He read over the note again and set it down. "Aw well, he has plenty of time. Sure the campus is big, but he'll be back before initiation starts…I hope." Jaune laid back down and decided to rest a little while longer before getting ready for breakfast. As he rested, he failed to notice something that was under the note he picked up; a sharp looking metallic four edged star with blue, faintly glowing runes etched on the metal.

An hour later, Jaune was walking around in his regular clothes, without his armor or weapon, getting ready to eat some breakfast. He was close to the cafeteria when he heard someone called out to him.

"Hey! Excuse me!"

Jaune tuned around to see a red haired teen his age and height running towards him. The guy had unruly, spiky hair, light blue eyes and tanned skin. He was wearing only a simple silver t-shirt with a picture of a volcano on the front, a pair of light brown shorts and a pair of combat boots on. He was also wearing a pair of fingerless gloves like Yang and Baltazar have but instead of retractable gauntlets with them, they only had metal plates on the back of the hands. Jaune looked at the guy and noticed that he had an X shaped scar on his right arm.

"Yes?" Jaune asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry," the red head panted, "but can you tell me where the cafeteria is? I've been looking for it for nearly a half hour now and I'm really hungry!"

Jaune chucked softly, "Well, the cafeteria's just down the hall from here. I'm actually on my way there now." He paused for a moment, "If you don't mind, you can come with me. My friends should be down there right now and I can introduce you to them if you want. The name's Jaune, by the way," he held his hand out as he finished.

The red head grinned broadly and shook Jaune's hand, "Thanks, dude!" He points at himself, "The name's Ashton Yasur, but you can call me Ash. Now let's hurry to the cafeteria. I don't know how long breakfast is going to last and Mr. Stomach demands to be fed!" Ash then points at his stomach, which starts growling.

Jaune shook his head in amusement and continued on to the cafeteria with Ash in tow. As the pair walked, Ash stared at Jaune curiously, making the blonde feel a little uncomfortable. After a while, Jaune stopped and tuned to Ash. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Just thinking about something," Ash shrugged, "I've seen you last night. You and a short, black haired dude were talking with a bunch of hot girls last night and it got me a little curious as to how you know them."

Jaune just looked at him in surprise, "Eh?"

"You know who I'm talking about, dude!" The red head exclaimed, "That fiery blond angle, the innocent looking cutie, the elegant ice princess and the mysterious ebony beauty. They're your friends, right? Mind telling me about them? Please?" Ash was on his knees, practically begging at this point.

Jaune sweat-dropped at the display, "Uh…w-well the blonde one is Yang. She's really outgoing and friendly, but she's really touchy with her hair, so don't mess around with it. Then there's Ruby, the innocent looking one you were talking about. She's Yang's little sister and is just as outgoing and friendly as her, but more awkward around people. She's also quite strong for her age if her weapon says anything about it. Weiss is next, and honestly I can't say much about her. All I can say is what my friend told me about her; that she can be cold and harsh on the surface but is sweet once you get to know her. He compared her to vanilla ice cream for some reason…Anyways, last is Blake, and all I know about her is that she likes books and doesn't like it when someone interrupts her reading constantly like Yang did last night."

Ash closed his eyes, rubbed his chin and nodded in understanding, "Ahh, I see." He then got close to Jaune and caught the blonde in a one arm hug. "So…think I have a chance with Yang and Blake?"

Jaune jumped, startled that his new friend asked such a question, "W-What are talking about?! I don't know them that well to answer that, I just met them yesterday for crying out loud!" He paused, thinking about what Ash just said, "Wait…Yang and Blake? You're not interested in Ruby or Weiss?"

"Not in the way we're both thinking of, I'm sure," Ash conformed. "I can tell just by looking at them that their hearts are already given to other guys, even if the girls are in denial or oblivious to it. I saw you guys together at the auditorium too and I can tell that the Ice Princess likes your short friend a lot by the way she looks at him. And the way the little cutie blushed when her sister introduced you guys to the Ebony Beauty told me everything."

"I see…" Jaune muttered, "Well, Weiss and Baltazar have known each other since they were kids, so it doesn't really surprise me that they like each other like that. As for Ruby, from what I understand, she does have a crush on someone. The main reason why I know is because of how often Yang and Baltazar tease her about it."

"You know who she has a crush on?" Ash couldn't help but ask.

"Yeah, Baltazar's little brother," Jaune answered. "She let it slip a little when we were talking yesterday on our way to the auditorium and her sister pretty much made it clear with all the comments she made about Baltazar becoming their brother in law."

"Hmm," Ash mused. He was about to say something when his stomach started growling again. "Woops, sorry Mr. Stomach." He apologized as he rubbed his stomach. "We better hurry before all the food is gone. Let's go!" Ash took off with Jaune trying to catch up.

"Wait!" Jaune shouted, "You're going the wrong way! The cafeteria is just down the hall we were in! You're heading back to the auditorium!"

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

The two managed to get to the cafeteria and saw that many of the students were there eating pancakes, eggs, and all sorts of other breakfast foods. Jaune scanned the room and noticed that the table that had his friends was full and sighed in disappointment. The pair got their food and sat at a random table close by. As they ate they couldn't help but listen to the conversation that was in front of them. Apparently the orange haired, blue eyed girl, who was wearing a mix and match set up consisting of a vest, a white top with a heart cut out along with some blue and red clothing, detached sleeves, a pink skirt and white shoes, was discussing with her friend, a black haired teen with a magenta streak on it and magenta colored eyes, a green eastern style suit with black and gold edges and trimmings, tan pants and black shoes, about how they can be partnered in the upcoming initiation. As the girl, apparently named Nora, continued talking to the bored teen, who was named Ren, Jaune looked at Ash with a questioning glance. Knowing what Jaune wanted to ask, Ash shook his head and whispered, "She's defiantly got a thing for him."

After breakfast, Jaune and Ash said goodbye to each other and went to look for their respective lockers. As Jaune searched for his locker, he noticed Ruby and Yang getting ready and decided to talk to them for a bit. Before he got too close, he paused, and watched as the couple he's seen earlier walk by; still discussing about how they can become partners.

Ruby watched the pair go by with a questioning look, "Wonder what those two are so worked up about?"

Yang just shrugged, "Oh who knows?" She turned her head and saw Jaune walking towards them, "Hey there, Jauney Boy!"

Jaune waved , "Hey Yang, Ruby." He looked around for a moment, "Where's Baltazar? I thought he'd be with you two."

"Nah," Yang shook her head, "He went to spend time with Weiss for a bit before initiation starts."

"And you're ok with that?" Jaune asked, remembering the argument the girls had before he went to bed.

Yang nodded her head, "Of course! Those two have been friends for years and haven't seen each other much since Sparky first moved to Vale. He has a tight bond with her, even tighter than the one Ruby and I have with him, so it wouldn't be fair if I told him not to hang out with Weiss just because we had an argument," She then began smiling softly, "He's happier and more expressive when he's around her, which is a great change compared to how he was when Ruby and I first became friends with him. Sparky knows Weiss more than we do and I can honestly say that Weiss knows Sparky more than we do as well. I may not like her that much at the moment, but I'm going to try to be nice and get to know her better, for Sparky's sake." Her smile then turned mischievous, "besides, the two of them look cute together, don't you think?"

"You're gonna tease the hell out of them, aren't you Sis…" Ruby stated as if it was a fact.

"That's right!" Yang shouted, sending a fist into the air, "Yesterday's the first time I've ever seen Sparky so flustered, so I'm going to tease the two of them until they go out or make out, whichever comes first!" Her comment made her sister and friend blush slightly. Yang tuned to her sister and continued, "Maybe we'll get ourselves another sister in the future, don't you think Sis?"

Ruby blushed a little more but said nothing and tuned back to her locker, a small on her face as she thought of the person she thinks of as a big brother finally finding someone special, even if it was in the form of a somewhat crabby heiress.

Yang chuckled at her sister, "Wow, not even a retort, Sis? You must be in a really good mood today."

"Yup!" Ruby beamed as she took out Crescent Rose, "No more awkward small talk or 'getting-to-know-you' stuff. Today, I get to let my sweetheart do the talking." She then began stroking her weapon and purred a little.

Jaune had a hand in his mouth to keep himself from laughing while Yang rolled her eyes.

"Well, remember, Ruby," Yang began, "you're not the only one going through initiation. If you wanna grow up, you're gonna have to meet new people and learn to work together."

"Ugh, you sound like Dad!" Ruby groaned in frustration as she puts away her weapon, "Ok, first of all: What does meeting new people have to do with fighting?"

"Forming teams, comparing fight styles and strategies and the possibility of learning new skills to name a few," Jaune listed, gaining a glare from Ruby and a look of approval from Yang.

"Quiet Jaune," Ruby muttered angrily, "And secondly: I don't need people to help me grow up! I. Drink. Milk."

"…" Jaune was speechless by the absurdity of Ruby's comment, "I don't even have anything to say about that."

"But what about when we form teams?" Yang asked.

Ruby suddenly became nervous, "Um, I don't know, I-I'll just be on your team or Baltazar's team or something..."

Yang became nervous as well and began playing with her hair a little, "Well…Baltazar and I talked about this earlier and thought that maybe you should try being on someone else's team."

Ruby became angry and marched up to her sister, "My dear sister Yang, are you implying that you and the closest thing I have to an older brother do not wish to be on the same team as me?"

Jaune thought that an argument was about to start and decided that it was a good time to leave. "_Besides, I still need to find my stuff_." He took out a map and began to look for his locker. As he searched, he finally found Baltazar who was indeed with Weiss, but also with a red haired girl with Amazonian armor that looked kind of familiar to him. The girl's armor consisted of a strapless top with a gold V-neck and detached sleeves, a red mini skirt with an ankle-length drapery, gold necklace and head piece, a pair of long boots, an arm guard and a pair of leg guards. Jaune was about to go say hi, but remembered he still needed to find his stuff before the initiation started. Sighing to himself, Jaune continued his search for his locker.

As Jaune searched, Baltazar stood by his best friend with a small smile on his face. He spent most of the morning exploring the campus, trying to memorize the layout in order to make sure he didn't get lost in the future. Then when he got back to the ballroom, he spent some time with Ruby and Yang, had breakfast with them, and told them he was going to spend some time with Weiss before the initiation started, which the girls were ok with. After he ate, he found Weiss talking to a friend and decided to introduce himself to her. The girl, whose name was Pyrrha Nikos, was pretty friendly and Baltazar had a good time talking to her. Soon after introducing each other, the three of them headed to the locker room to get their supplies.

"So, Pyrrha," Weiss asked as she adjusted her rapier, Myrtenaster, "Have you given any thought to whose team you'd like to be on? I'm sure everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, well-known individual such as yourself!"

Pyrrha thinks to herself a little before answering, "Hmm...I'm not quite sure. I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may."

Weiss then said with a hopeful smile, "Well...I was thinking maybe the three of us could be on a team together."

Pyrrha smiles at Weiss, "Well, that sounds grand!" She then looks at Baltazar, who was silent through most of the conversation, "Don't you think so, Baltazar?"

Baltazar shrugs his shoulders with a wider smile on his face, "Sure, why not? Sounds like fun."

Weiss's eyes practically glow in happiness, "Great!" Turns around quickly and hunches over a little, gaining looks of confusion and surprise from Pyrrha and Baltazar.

"_This will be perfect!_" Weiss thought with a manic grin on her face,"_The smartest girl in class combined with the strongest girl in class and the fastest guy in class! Together we will be unstoppable! I can see it now! We'll be popular! We'll be celebrities! We'll get perfect grades! Nothing can come between us now!_"

"Uh…Weiss?" Baltazar asked hesitantly, "You ok down there? You're starting to scare me a little."

Weiss's plotting was interrupted when she heard a familiar, yet unwelcomed voice, "Hey there Weiss, had any good explosions lately?"

The three of them turned to see Jaune, this time with all his stuff on, with a small smile on his face that could also be seen as a smirk.

"You again?" Weiss said, irritated that he reminded her of yesterday's incident.

"Hey Jaune," Baltazar greeted with a wave, "You said that to get back at her for calling you scraggly yesterday, didn't you?"

Jaune simply nodded, gaining a harsh glare from Weiss in the process.

"I thought so," Baltazar chuckled, "By the way; did you get my note this morning?"

"I did," Jaune stared at him for a bit, "And I got to say, when you said you have a habit of waking up early, I didn't think it meant getting up at five in the morning."

Pyrrha decides to join in on the conversation, "Nice to meet you Jaune!"

Jaune turns to Pyrrha and smiles, "And it's nice to meet such a pretty lady like you as well."

Jaune's greeting causes Pyrrha to blush a bit and smile brightly. Jaune tuned to Baltazar again, "So I just talked with Ruby and Yang about the team placement thing and Ruby's hoping to be on a team with you and Yang. That ok with you?"

Baltazar sighed and scratched his neck, "I'm ok with it, but Yang and I thought it would be a good idea that Ruby should be with other people instead so that she could break out of her shell. It's what Yang did with me when we were at Signal and it worked out pretty well…I think."

"Well now I know who to thank for your more outgoing side now," Weiss muttered to herself.

"Actually," Pyrrha stepped in, "I've heard that teams are comprised of four students each. The three of us were actually talking about being in a team together, so-"

"So you want me to be on a team with you guys?" Jaune finished for her, making Pyrrha nod, "I think that would be a great idea Ms..." Jaune then turned sheepish as he looked a Pyrrha, "I'm sorry. I've been talking with you all this time and I have no idea what your name is."

"Seriously, Jaune?" Weiss sighed in exasperation, "You have no idea who you're talking to right now?"

"Not in the slightest, Nievita," Jaune answered quickly, annoying Weiss even more by using the nickname reserved for her Aunt Leti, Baltazar's mother. Jaune then looked at Baltazar, "You know who she is?"

"Just her name and that she'd nice," Baltazar said, "She does look a little familiar, but not that much."

"Listen you two!" Weiss shouted, getting the boys' attention, and gestured at Pyrrha, "This is Pyrrha."

"Hello again!" Pyrrha waved at the boys.

"Hi/Hello." Baltazar and Jaune waved back.

"Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum!" Weiss explained.

"Never heard of it," The boys said together.

Weiss scoffed as she continues, "She's won the Mistral Region Tournaments four years in a row! A new record!"

"The what?" The boys replied together again.

Finally fed up, Weiss flailed her arms around and shouted, "She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!"

Baltazar's eyes went wide while Jaune gasped loudly.

"That's you?" Jaune whispered somewhat reverently, pointing at Pyrrha, "But they only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!"

"No wonder you look so familiar!" Baltazar said, pointing at Pyrrha as well, "My little siblings eat that cereal all the time, especially the little Princess. I think she looks up to you too."

Pyrrha blushed at the praise the two boys were giving her. "Yeah, it was pretty cool. Sadly, the cereal isn't very good for you."

"Eh, I didn't like it that much anyways," Baltazar said carelessly, shocking Jaune and Pyrrha, "I didn't like the idea of eating soggy marshmallows. Tasted too weird for me."

"Thank God for that…" Weiss muttered to herself before speaking up, "So, after hearing all of that, do you really think you're in a position to ask her to be in your team?"

Jaune drops his head a little, "I guess not…sorry."

Not wanting to see Jaune upset, Pyrrha spoke up, "Actually, I think Jaune would make a great leader." Pyrrha turned to Baltazar, hoping he will support his friend, "Don't you think so, Baltazar."

Baltazar crossed his arms and nodded, "Yeah, I can see it." Jaune looked at him, shocked by his honest tone. Baltazar then looked down a little and scratched his neck, "He'd make a much better leader than I would, that's for sure."

Jaune blushed a little and chucked at the praise he was getting, "Oh stop it you two."

"Seriously guys, stop," Weiss interrupted, "You shouldn't encourage this kind of behavior!" She then turned to Baltazar, her eyes softening, much to the surprise of Jaune and Pyrrha, "And you need to stop doubting yourself. I'm sure you'd make a great leader if you try hard enough."

Baltazar said nothing for a moment. He then turned his to Weiss with a hopeful look, "Do you really think so?"

"No," Weiss smiled as she shook her head, and gently placed her hand on his arm, "I know so."

Jaune and Pyrrha looked at the pair with smiles on their faces.

"So this is what he meant by her having a sweet side," Jaune said quietly as to not ruin the moment. He turned his attention to Pyrrha, "They'd make a good couple, don't they?"

Pyrrha nodded, "They do. You can feel how much they care for each other."

Jaune noticed something in Pyrrha's hand and couldn't help but ask, "Uh…Pyrrha? Why do you have your weapon out?"

Pyrrha blinked for a moment before looking at her weapon, a sword-like spear named Miló. "I figured it'd be a good idea to have it out and ready now. It's almost time for the initiation anyways, and I felt like preparing ahead."

Jaune nodded in understanding as both turned back to the silent pair. They knew that it was almost time to go, but they didn't want to interrupt such a touching moment. Sadly, all good things must come to an end.

*_BANG_*

"HOLY!"

"KYA!"

"HYAA!"

*_THUNK_*

"WHAT THE?!"

"…Why me?"

Ruby, Yang, and everyone else in the locker room turned to see what the commotion was about. What they saw was a frightened Baltazar holding an equally scared Weiss bridal style, a panting Pyrrha looking like she just thrown something, a stunned Ash with his back against a pillar with his weapon, a striker shotgun that sort of looked like a grenade launcher, on the floor with smoke coming out of it, and a depressed Jaune who was right next to Ash, pinned to the pillar by the hood with Pyrrha's spear.

"Uh…Sorry," Ash apologized with a sheepish grin as he picked up his gun, "Dropped my weapon."

"Sorry? Sorry?!" Weiss shouted, still clinging to Baltazar, "You nearly scared us to death you idiot! How can anyone be so irresponsible with their weapon that they'll just drop it without a care?!"

"Hey, calm down will you?" Ash said, trying and failing to diffuse the situation, "Sheesh, for an Ice Princess you sure have a hot temper."

Weiss growled, jumped off of Baltazar and grabbed her rapier, "Talk about me like that one more time and I'll show you how 'hot' my temper can be."

Jaune paled at the sight of an angry Weiss, even though the anger wasn't directed at him. "Y-You'd better leave while you have a chance, Ash," He whispered to the shaking red head, "Something tells me she was being literal when she said that."

"No need to tell me twice," Ash whispered back as he left the locker room.

"Hmph, good riddance," Weiss mumbled. Then she and the others students heard the sounds of the intercom being tested and tuned their attention to who was going to speak.

It was Glynda Goodwitch. "Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."

Everyone looked at each other briefly, and then proceeded to head over to Beacon Cliff. Before leaving, Pyrrha grabbed her spear back from the pillar and released Jaune in the process.

"I'm sorry," Pyrrha apologized.

"It's ok," Jaune said with a smile.

A few moments later all the first year students were lined up at Beacon Cliff, where Glynda and Ozpin, holding a coffee mug, were at waiting for them.

Ozpin spoke, "For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Glynda was next, "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of 'teams'. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today."

Ruby, who was standing in between Yang and Jaune, started to get worried, "What? Oh…"

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well," Ozpin continued on for Glynda, ignoring Ruby's groaning, "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

The moment he spoke those words, Ruby felt like the world just shattered, "What!?"

"Ruby, calm down." Baltazar said from his position; to the right of Jaune with no one else next to him.

Ozpin began speaking again, "After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die."

Jaune thought to himself, "_Sounds simple, but I bet it's harder than it sounds. How are going to go into the forest from here?_"

Ozpin gave the students one last piece of information, "You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

Surprisingly enough, it was Baltazar who was about to ask something, "Uh…Sir?

"Good!" Ozpin interrupted, "Now, take your positions."

Soon everyone began taking different positions; from Nora crouching low and Ren grabbing his guns, to Yang and Baltazar activating their gauntlets and Ruby readying her body. Jaune on the other hand looked down at the tiles he and the others were standing on and paled as he realized what was going to happen. "_Don't tell me he's going to…_"

"Professor Ozpin?" Baltazar asked again with a hand placed on his sword, "Mind if I ask you something really quick?"

Ozpin looks at him for a moment and drinks his coffee, "Go ahead."

"You're not going to drop us off in the forest, aren't you?" Baltazar asked knowingly.

"That's right," Ozpin conformed, "You will be falling. And you will need to provide your own landing strategy."

As the two spoke, several students have already been launched into the air by the tiles they were standing on, including Weiss, Blake, Nora, Ren and Ash.

"So you mean to tell us," Baltazar began as more students were sent flying, "That you plan to catapult us into a monster infested forest, with a high chance of us dying, make us collect some relics in an abandoned temple, and take said relics back to you guys without being killed, while working with a partner we may or may not know anything about?"

"That's pretty much the gist of it," Ozpin nodded, "Is there anything else you like to ask?"

Baltazar turned to his left to see Yang, who was wearing her sunglasses, Ruby and Jaune being launched into the air, and then tuned back to Ozpin.

"Actually, I only got one thing to sa-" Baltazar was flung into the air before he could finish his sentence.

Glynda and Ozpin turned to see the students they launched fall into the Emerald Forest. Ozpin took another sip from his mug as Glynda approached him.

"I wonder what that young man was going to say." Glynda pondered.

*_SHINK_*

The two professors looked down and saw a metallic four point star embedded into the ground right in front of Ozpin's feet.

"What is that thing?" Glynda asked.

"It's a throwing star, otherwise known as a shuriken," Ozpin answered as he picked it up. "If I remember right, Baltazar fires these from his gauntlets like Yang does with her shotgun rounds."

"He must be annoyed that he was launched before he could finish," Glynda said in amusement. She turns to Ozpin and notices him reading a small piece of paper. "Where did you get that, sir?"

"It was tied to the shuriken, Glynda," Ozpin chuckled as he handed the note to her, "And I don't think the young man was annoyed."

Glynda had a small smile as she read the note. "I guess I was wrong about him…"

"Hm…" Ozpin smiled as he took the note back. He looks at the falling students again before returning to the note.

"Best school ever"

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

"SQUAK!"

"BIRDY, NO!"

"_What are the odds of that happening?_" Baltazar thought as he saw Ruby fly right into a poor bird. While he wasn't able to finish what he was going to say to Ozpin before he was sent flying, he did manage to get the message to him via shuriken mail. He looked forward, grateful that his glasses transitioned before flight, in order to find a good place to land and channeled some of his aura to his feet, causing them to glow a light blue for a moment, to help with his landing strategy. A few seconds later he landed on a tree branch and immediately jumped off towards another one. His tree jumping continued for a while until he managed to slow himself to a stop. Stopping at a random branch, he looked up and immediately became confused.

"Since when did the sky turn green?"

After a moment his eyes widened as he realized he was upside down, his aura making him stick under the branch, and that he was looking at the ground instead of the sky. Hearing someone shouting, Baltazar looked 'down' and saw Yang flying by, cheering in excitement. He chuckled a little before cutting off his aura and, with the grace of a cat, landed on the ground.

"Well…time to find a partner."

Baltazar began wandering around the forest for a few minutes, hoping to find a good partner. After a while he heard some rustling in the bushes nearby and turns quickly, his fists up and ready to fight.

"Come out, or I'll come to you," He said calmly, glaring at the bush. His hands began to give out sparks, and electricity can be seen flowing around the gloves. It was silent for a moment, until something came out of the bushes, a girl Baltazar's age to be exact.

His eyes went wide at the sight of the equally surprised girl. She has light brown eyes and long dark brown, nearly black hair and the same skin tone Baltazar has. She's wearing a light purple blouse, tight black pants with a picture of a crescent moon with 3 waves coming out of it on her right leg, an open lavender jacket with the same moon symbol the back, black shoes and a purple bracelet on her right arm with the same moon symbol engraved on it. Her weapons, a pair of knives, are still in their holsters, which are located at both legs and she also has a pouch attached to her bottom like Baltazar does.

Baltazar put his hands down in shock as he looked at the girl. He knew her. He trained with her. He and Weiss played with her. He even shared the same huntsman teacher with her, the same grandfather. He whispered, "Lava-"

He was cut off by the girl jumping him and hugging him tightly. He blinked a little, then looked down at the shivering girl and noticed that she was crying a little. He smiled gently and pats her head, "It's been a while, Lavanda. Still as emotional as ever I see."

Lavanda nodded, tears still coming out of her eyes, "It has, _primo_. It's been nearly four years since we've seen each other. And I don't think you should be the one to talk when it comes to being emotional," She looked up at him. "I'm happy that we were able to keep our promise."

"The promise to see each other again after we finish combat school," Baltazar remembered, "I was actually planning to visit you and Abuelita during the summer but, uhh, something came up."

"The senior prank?" Lavanda giggled, making her cousin blush in embarrassment, "_Prima_ Sarah told me about it a few weeks ago and said that you, _primo _Cody, and your friends got in big trouble with your parents because of that." She let go of Baltazar and began laughing.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, Levy. It was worth it, though," Baltazar grumbled as his slightly younger cousin continued to laugh. He looks at Levy's knives and smiles, "I see you're taking good care of Abuelito's knives."

"Yup!" She beamed, "_Flujo__ y __Reflujo_ have been great to me ever since you modified them. And I can see that you fixed up Abuelito's _Tormentas __Suaves_ and even repaired Hiraishin!" She pointed at both Baltazar's gauntlets and his sheathed katana.

"I prefer to call his gauntlets Gentle Storms now," he admitted, "And I've pretty much had to re-forge Hiraishin since it was broken beyond repair. It's now known as Azure Bolt." He drew his sword and, as if proving his point, sparks of blue electricity began flowing through the blade.

"Wow," Levy said in awe, "Your forging skills have gotten much better over the years, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, but I still take too long when it comes to making stuff," Baltazar replied sheepishly, "You know that Cody can make something twice as good at half the time." He grins and points to his gauntlets, "But my modification skills have improved, though. I change and upgrade these things constantly and-"

"Calm down there, _primo_," Levy laughed again, "I'd like to hear more about the changes you made to Abuelito's gauntlets, but we need to pass the initiation right now."

"Ah, right," Baltazar said as he calmed down. "Sorry about that, Levy. Your right, let's get going."

Baltazar began moving, with Levy following close by. "_Weiss must be here_," she thought, "_He's hardly ever in a good mood like this unless Weiss said or did something with him to make him happy._" She began to slow down a little as memories of the three of them playing went through her head, "_This is going to be a great year. I can feel it._"

"Levy! Are you ok?!" Baltazar shouted, snapping Levy out of her thoughts "We have to find the temple quick before all the relics are gone! Hurry up, Slowpoke!"

Levy began to run faster, a little irritated at being called Slowpoke. As soon as she caught up, she smiled at her cousin, "Sorry about that. Let's get going, Bulbasaur!"

Hearing that made Baltazar trip and face plant, causing Levy to laugh and move ahead of her faster cousin, knowing that he'll catch up in no time.

Picking himself up Baltazar shouted at Levy, eye twitching, "Dammit Levy! I told you not to call me that anymore!"

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

"_I'll be honest, this is going much better than I expected_," Jaune thought as he walked through the forest with his new partner Pyrrha. After a rough start that involved him being pinned to a tree, by his own sword no less, Jaune managed to find himself a partner, or rather a partner managed to find him. After helping him get off the tree, Pyrrha asked if the two of them could become partners, much to the blonde teen's delight.

"_I still don't know how I managed to pin myself to a tree like that,_" Jaune continued to think, "_Was my sword not in the sheath all the way? Oh well, it's in past now._" He turned his head back to the trees behind him, "_We heard gunfire earlier, so the others must be fighting monsters right now. I hope everyone's ok…_"

His thoughts were interrupted by a tree branch to the face. "OW!"

Pyrrha turned to him with an apologetic look on her face, "Oh Jaune, I'm sorry!"

Jaune laughed a little as he got up, now sporting a small gash on his cheek, "I'm fine. Just a scratch."

Pyrrha walked up to him, still concerned, "Why didn't you activate your aura?

Jaune looked at his partner in confusion, "My what?"

"Your aura." Pyrrha repeated

"Gesundheit."

Pyrrha became a little confused and asked, "Jaune, do you…know what aura is?"

Jaune thought back to the training he did with his dad and shook his head, "Nope. Dad never said anything about it to me when we were training. Mind explaining it to me?"

Pyrrha smiles at his honesty and begins explaining, "Aura is the manifestation of our soul. It bears our burdens and shields our hearts. Have you ever felt you were being watched without knowing that someone was there?"

"Yeah, I have actually," Jaune said after a moment of thought.

Pyrrha continued, "With practice, our aura can be our shield. Everyone has it, even animals."

"…I take it that the monsters we fight don't have auras, do they?" Jaune guessed.

"That's right, Jaune," Pyrrha smiled as he caught on, "The monsters we fight lack a soul. They are creatures of Grimm, the manifestation of anonymity. They are the darkness, and we are the light."

"Is that why we fight them?" Jaune asked.

Pyrrha shook her head, "It's not about why; it's about knowing. Understanding dark and light helps us manifest our aura. Everyone has some of both." She then looked at the sky, hands behind her back, "By baring your soul outward as a force, you can deflect harm. All of our tools and equipment are conduits for aura. You protect yourself and your soul when fighting."

"I see," Jaune muttered, "kind of like a force field I guess."

Pyrrha turned to him and smiled, "Yes, if you want to look at it that way."

Jaune became lost in thought, "_Well that explains some of the things Dad was able to pull off during training. I wonder why he never told me about it before. I guess that also explains that disappearing trick Baltazar did to catch up with Weiss yesterday. I wonder if I can do it too?"_ He was brought out of his thoughts by Pyrrha touching his head gently, "Uh…"

"Close your eyes and concentrate, ok?" Pyrrha asked softly.

"Ok," Jaune obeyed and closed his eyes and focused.

Pyrrha smiles before closing her eyes herself and glows a faint red, trying to unlock Jaune's aura.

The two stood there, Pyrrha still glowing red and Jaune now glowing white, as Pyrrha mentally recites, "_For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death_." She places a hand on his chest. "_I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee_."

As soon as she finished, Pyrrha slumps over a little in exhaustion, causing Jaune, still glowing white, to worry, "Pyrrha! Are you ok?"

"It's all right," Pyrrha said as she got up, "I just used my aura to unlock yours." She smiles as Jaune's aura heals the cut on his cheek. "You have a lot of it."

Jaune places a hand on his face to feel that the cut is gone. He then looks at his hands and sees the white aura around them fade. "Wow…"

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

Baltazar and Levy continue to walk around in the forest and reached a small clearing before they paused.

"Did you felt that?" Levy asked, looking around.

"I did." Baltazar muttered, looking at a random direction. "Someone just had their aura unlocked, and that someone has a lot of it." He looks down at his at his cousin, "I'm surprised you were able to feel it. Your sensory skills have improved."

"Thanks," Levy said gratefully, "They're not as advanced as yours, but they still…"She trailed off and started to pale a little.

"What wrong?" Baltazar demanded with a serious look on her face.

"We're not alone," Levy whispered, bringing out her tri bladed knives, "I know that you must have sensed them before I did."

"I was hoping they would leave us alone," Baltazar growled as he cracked his knuckles.

The two of them said nothing, waiting for the right moment to move. Behind them, a giant black snake Grimm, known as the King Taijitu, slowly rises, preparing to strike the cousins.

"Looks like we're gonna have to fight," Baltazar stated as he clenches his fist, causing it to emit sparks.

"Think we can take them?" Levy asked, griping her knives tightly.

Her cousin chucked softly and closed his eyes, "Nope."

Despite hearing a negative response, Levy began to smile, knowing what he was about to say next.

Baltazar opened his eyes, showing that they have turned a dark blue and the pupils has narrowed to vertical slits, and looked at the knife user with a feral grin on his face, "I **know** we can take them."

With that, the two disappeared, one in a blue flash and another in a violet blur, as the giant black snake lunged at them. Levy appears in front of the down snake, shifts her knives to their pistol forms, and begins to open fire at the monster. Feeling the bullets pierce its thick skin, the King Taijitu became agitated and rose up in preparation to strike the young girl. Before it could, however, it was struck with a hard and shocking blow to the head, causing it to go down again.

Levy saw that it was her cousin who brought the Grimm down. His fist was glowing a bright blue and sparks were coming out of it, indicating the use of Electric Dust. Baltazar stared down at the snake, noting that the blow to the head dazed it quite a bit. It won't be getting up for a little while. He turned his attention to Levy and growled as he saw something large and white approaching her. He tucks his right arm back, as if preparing to throw something, and tries to get the girl's attention.

"Levy, heads up!"

Levy's eyes widen and she turns around to see the black King Taijitu's other half, the white King Taijitu approaching her. She was about to fire at the monster when a small volley of shuriken came from behind her and struck it at multiple spots on its face. The shuriken themselves were glowing blue with sparks emitting from them as well. Levy smiled, knowing that her cousin must have fired them from their grandfather's gauntlets. "_Baltazar always did like to play as a ninja as a kid, now he practically is one_."

"Stay back, Levy! I got it!"

She looked up to see Baltazar in the air again with his right hand glowing, in an attempt to repeat what he did to the black Grimm earlier. She frowned at the sight and looked at white Grimm, who was thrashing wildly in response to the several sharp objects on its face. "_The monster's flailing too much. I don't think that attack is going to work again. I fear he's most likely going to get himself struck by monster's face._"

Her fear was realized as the white Grimm, in its moment of angry thrashing, struck Baltazar midair and caused him to crash onto the ground. Despite his speed and stealth, along with access to strong lightning attacks, Baltazar can't take hits all that well. Another good blow or two like that and he would most likely pass out, if he was lucky. As he tried to pick himself up, the white King Taijitu regained its bearings and quickly began to coil around the down hunter, preventing his escape.

Baltazar cursed as he sees giant snake wrapping around him, "Damn. I can't flash out of here and the only skills that I have that might help will either take too much time to charge or hurt me even more…especially **that** skill. Guess I have no choice." He then closed his eyes and clapped his hands together.

Levy began to worry as she saw the snake coiling around her cousin. Suddenly it uncoil itself and began to look around with a confused expression. Levy noticed that the spot where Baltazar was is empty, not a trace of him to be seen. She also became confused for a moment until she noticed something on the white Grimm's head. There, literally appearing from out of thin air was her cousin, sword drawn and eyes brown, getting ready to impale the Grimm.

"Surprise, snake freak!"

He slammed the blade into the Grimm's head causing it to thrash violently again. Baltazar kept a tight grip on his sword, making sure he didn't fly off.

Levy just stared at her cousin in surprise. "_He used the primary ability of his Stealth Semblance: cloaking!_" She watched as Baltazar continued to hold on to the snake for dear life, "_While he's cloaked, he can't be seen or heard by any means besides touch. It hides his scent, body heat, everything. It's as if he's vanished off the face of the earth._" She began to frown, "_Unfortunately he can't use any skills that require aura or even dust while cloaked. The cloak requires a lot of aura to maintain too, so he can only use it for ten seconds before he's forced to become visible again. Not only that, he's doesn't have access to any aura after the ability is de-activated so that his aura can replenish quickly, and that takes twenty seconds. Which means that, for a short time, Baltazar is limited to the combat skills he learned over the years and those skills alone._

After a few more seconds, the white Grimm managed to get both Baltazar and his sword out of its head, greatly scaring Levy. Baltazar landed in front of the Grimm and tried to pick himself up. As soon as he got up though, the Grimm lunged at him, mouth open, and from Levy point of view, looks as if he's been eaten. The beast rose again and looks at the spot where Baltazar was before turning to turning to Levy. Before it even moved though, a blue flash appeared before it and from it came a blue eyed Baltazar with his katana out and slashed the monster's nose.

"He can use his aura again," Levy sighed in relief before she stiffened. Turning around, she noticed that the black King Taijitu, which was incapacitated for most of the fight, began to stir and stare at her hungrily. She only stared at the beast for a moment before she jumped to the side to avoid its lunging.

She began to run, the back snake close behind her, as she thought of a way to beat it. She makes sharp turns constantly in hopes of slowing down the Grimm, but it still follows behind closely. It lunges, hoping to get the huntress to be in its mouth, but she managed to jump out of the way. She shoots at the head a few times and then, in a manner similar to what Baltazar did, stabs her knives onto the Grimm's skull, causing it to thrash in a similar manner to its white twin. She tries to hold on, but because she's not as physically strong as her cousin, she's soon flung off the beast, her knives flying in different directions. Levy tries to pick herself up but the black snake moves in on her quickly. She glares at the Grimm and brings out another knife from her pouch, prepared for one last attempt to take the monster out. The Grimm lunges at Levy one more time, mouth open, and Levy was about to channel her aura into the knife and throw it when something, specifically someone, caused her to stop.

"That is no way how to treat a lady, Snakey."

Levy's eyes went wide as she saw a red haired guy in front of her, holding the King Taijitu in place by one of its fangs with only one hand, which was glowing a silverish grey color, while his other hand was holding his special shotgun.

"_He's holding the snake back with one hand and not even budging!_" Levy thought in surprise, "_He must have a lot of natural strength and control over his Durability Semblance in order to accomplish what he's doing now_."

Ash grinned, looking at the Grimm he caught by the fang, "If you're that hungry, dude, then I got just the thing for you!" He points his gun to the beast and his grin became wider, "One order of flaming hot lead coming up!" He opens fire, sending a load of flaming bullets into the Grimm's mouth.

The beast staggers back, damaged greatly by the internal assault. Ash beams, proud of his accomplishment and calls to his partner, "Ok Dia, you're next! Ready for target practice?!"

"You bet I am!" a feminine voice shouted from the trees and suddenly an arrow flies out of one of them, striking the King Taijitu dead on it's right eye. A few moments later another arrow was launched, this time into the air with a faint, yellow-green glow around it, and then dives down towards the thrashing beast, following its every movements.

"_That's no homing arrow,_" Levy realized, "_That arrow's been enhanced with aura of the Tracker Semblance! There's no way that monster can dodge it!_"

And she was right. Even with all the flailing the giant snake made, the arrow continued to follow its movements perfectly until it pierced through its intended target, the beast's other eye.

Now completely blind, the black King Taijitu started to thrash even more wildly, hitting itself on the ground and nearby trees, in hopes of getting rid of the pain. Levy stared at the sight, glad that the monster was not close enough to hurt her or her saviors. Suddenly a blonde ponytailed girl, slightly taller than Levy, appeared before her, holding a bow with one hand and her pistol knives with the other. "I believe these are yours?"

Levy took her knives back gratefully, while Ash smiled at her partner. "You went and grabbed them the moment you let go of that second arrow, didn't you Dia?"

Dia had a big grin on her face and gave Ash a thumbs up, "Yup! I knew my arrow was going to hit that monster no matter how much it moved, so I figured I'd look for the little lady's weapons. You know, to help out."

"Beautiful and kind. Dude I got myself one hell of a partner," Ash stated, making Dia giggle a little. He looked at the still thrashing snake and sighed, "That thing's not going to stop until its dead. You want to finish it?" He asked, looking at Levy as she got up.

"No offense, but I don't think those pistol knives of yours can finish that thing off that easily," Dia said, pointing at _Flujo__ y __Reflujo__._

Levy shook her head and held out the throwing knife she was going to use earlier and channeled a little aura into it, "I was actually planning to use this to finish it off. Watch."

She threw the knife at the King Taijitu while its mouth was open and as soon as it entered the mouth, the knife exploded. A moment later, the Grimm drops dead, its head missing due to the explosion. Ash and Dia just stared at the sight before them, surprised that such a small knife was able to do so much damage. They turned their attention to Levy, who just looks at them with a smile on her face.

"…How did you get that knife to explode like that?" Dia asked, very curious about that single use weapon.

"That was no ordinary knife," Ash realized, looking at Levy "That was an explosive Dust knife. It's a special throwing knife that explodes after a certain amount of time or if it makes contact with a Grimm if aura is channeled into it. It's one of the signature single use weapons that is created and sold by Azure Armory Inc. The one you just threw had more Dust in it than the store bought ones. How did you manage to get one like that?"

"My cousin gave it to me, along with others like it, before he moved here to Vale," Levy answered honestly, shocking the pair in front of her. "He told me to only use them as a last resort because he wouldn't be able to send me more if I ran out. However, now that we're together again as partners I don't have to worry about that anymore!" She finished excitedly.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Levy. You know it takes me a while to make those Dust knives."

The three teens tuned to see a slightly scratched up Baltazar walking towards them with his katana on his shoulder and his eyes back to normal. Behind him was the carcass of the white King Taijitu, with its body vertically split in two with sparks coming out of it. Ash and Dia were shocked at the state of the Grimm's body, while Levy ran to her cousin with a concerned look on her face.

"Are you ok?" Levy asked.

"Just a few scratches," Baltazar reassured, "Nothing serious."

Levy looked over Baltazar once and began to channel aura into her hand, causing it to faintly glow purple, and placed it on his face. "You look fine, but just in case, let me fix you up.

Baltazar sighed happily as he felt Levy's aura healing the small wounds he obtained while fighting against the giant snake.

"Well would you look at that," Ash said in surprise, causing the others to look at him, "You're a healer? Well aren't full of surprises, Miss Medic?" He laughed, causing the others to laugh with them.

"So…"Dia began as she calmed down, "Should we introduce ourselves to each other now?"

"Might as well," Baltazar agreed, "I'll go first. My name is Baltazar Azul, a master of stealth…so I've been told."

"My full name is Lavanda Morado, Baltazar's cousin, but you guys can call me Levy. I'm very good at healing, so come to me if you get hurt."

"All right. My name is Ashton Yasur, but my friends call me Ash. I'm practically the embodiment of durability and raw strength."

"I guess I'm up now. The name's Dia Adamas and my aim is second to none! Nothing escapes me once I have my sights on them."

The four of them smiled and shook each other's hands, happy to have made new friends.

"Just so you know, Balto," Ash said to Baltazar, giving him a new nickname, "We have seen each other before. Remember this morning? I accidentally dropped Burning Crater and pretty much scared everyone in the lockers, then I got yelled at by the Ice Princess with the hot temper in your arms before she threatened to set me on fire if I kept talking."

"I remember that," Baltazar chuckled, "We were having a bit of a moment before you dropped your gun and scared the life out of us. I'm pretty sure Weiss would have follow through with her threat, too. She hates it whenever someone interrupts us when we're talking about something serious."

"I can see that happening too. She always did have a temper," Levy commented, laughing a little.

"Bet it was nice holding her like that though," Ash said with a knowing look. He grinned when Baltazar blushed and had a sheepish smile on his face. He turned to Dia, who was silent for a while, and noticed that she was staring at the katana user curiously. "What's up Dia?"

"You have a sister?" Dia asked suddenly, surprising everyone else.

Baltazar gave her a confused look, "Eh?"

"It was a couple years ago," Dia explained, "I was walking around town when I saw a few thugs trying to rob a couple of girls who were visiting the island I was staying on for school. One of them was a white haired girl my age with expensive looking clothes, most likely your friend Weiss, while the other one was younger, with the same eyes, hair color and skin tone you have. I helped them out and we hung out for a little while before they had to leave. I forgot to ask what their names were, but I defiantly remember what they look like."

"Ah!" Baltazar exclaimed, "That was you? Weiss and Sarah were telling me about that when they came back from exploring the town. I was hoping to meet you eventually to thank you but we left the island before I could get the chance. Well, now's a good a time as any." He walked up to her and bowed, "Thank you for helping my best friend and my sister. I truly appreciate it."

"My, aren't you a gentleman," Dia giggled, "It wasn't a problem. I was happy to help."

Everyone smiled, happy to have made new friends. They stay like this for a moment, then decided to leave in order to find the relics. But before that…

"So…" Ash said slowly, "You have a sister?"

"…Yeah. So?" Baltazar replied back slowly as well.

"Is she hot?"

"She's eight."

"Never mind then."

The girls burst out laughing at the exchange, happy that their partners are getting along fairly well. As the small group left the clearing, all of them shared the same thought.

"_I would like to be in a team with them. It would be fun to say the least_."

Author's Note: Done. Took me a little longer than expected to get it done thanks to work, but Chapter 2 is complete. I have no work today so I'm spending the day writing Chapter 3 and hopefully finish and upload it either later tonight or early tomorrow morning. I might not get any sleep, but I don't care, I want to finish the Emerald Forest part of the series and start on the one-shot collection that I've wanted to make for a while. I've changed up Jaune a little, making him a bit like he is in a few fan-fics I've read with him as the main character; White Knight, Jaune Arc's Pain and Of Another D'Arc, all of which I recommend highly, so while he's still a bit of a goof, he's going to be a skilled goof. I've also managed to find my weakness in the writing world, fight scenes. The King Taijitu fight was a completely original scene that I've had in my head and to be honest, I think I could have written it better, but I had a hard time writing it in the first place. Thankfully I'll be getting a little help in the forms of the RWBY wiki and the episodes themselves for the upcoming fight scene in the next chapter. Also, sorry for taking your fighting scene from you, Ren, but I needed the snakes. This chapter introduces the remaining characters and even shows Team BLAD meeting each other for the first time and getting along, which I am happy with. Just so you guys know, Levy didn't argue when Baltazar told her to let him handle the white King Taijitu because she's not much of a fighter, and she knows that. She has decent fighting skills, but she would have had a very difficult taking on the King Taijtu by herself without the special throwing knives Baltazar gave her. Expect Chapter 3 to be uploaded either tonight or early tomorrow. As a side note, Baltazar's gonna be practically worshiping Sun once the two of them meet. You guys will find out why once I get to that part.

Now for some weapon trivia: The weapons that are used by team BLAD have gone through many changes before becoming what they are now. Dia's weapon, Piercing Gems, was the simplest to make as it was inspired by the bow used by Pit in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and can fire special arrows like Link in the Legend of Zelda series.

Ash's weapon, Burning Crater, has gone through a few small changes, the most recent one being his shotgun now looking like a cross between a striker and a grenade launcher. It was made like that in order to help with the visualization of its mecha-shifting to its melee form, a giant axe that can also change into a war hammer like Nora's. He mainly uses the axe form for melee combat, but he enjoys using the hammer form for crushing things every once in a while. The hammer form was a recent change as well, to go along with his role as the physically strongest member of the team.

Baltazar's weapons however went through the most changes. He was originally going to have Flujo y Reflujo, the mecha-shift pistol knives, but I decided to give them to Levy after I made the decision to make Baltazar to not like firearms that much. He knows how to use them, but he prefers to fight in close combat. The battle gauntlets, Gentle Storms, were inspired by Yang's Ember Celica, but have been modified to do more than what the shot gauntlets can do. The standard abilities the gauntlets have include using Dust to electrify his fists similar to how Yang uses her fire and a shuriken launcher, with the shuriken enhanced with lightning Dust. However Baltazar is constantly modifying these gauntlets, adding and removing features left and right whenever he feels like it to suit his needs and desires, such as temporary force fields, missile launchers and even a remote control detonator at one point. The gauntlets also give him access to his strongest attack, but he doesn't use it often because of how much of a double edge technique it is.

His katana, Azure Bolt, went through a few changes as well. It was originally going to be named Hiraishin and be given to him by a friend who lost the ability to walk after a run in with a pack of Beowolves the two had at Forever Fall. It was scrapped, though, as I remembered that students at Signal were required to forge their own weapons. Following the forging idea, I nearly gave him a weapon that would be considered unusual even in the RWBY world I believe; a flute sword. That idea was inspired by the one Waka used in Okami, Pillow Talk, and I was close to having it as his main weapon and I even had a different semblance for him at the time, which I called sound. I had to scrap it though, as I couldn't figure out a good way to make an open holed concert flute mecha-shift into a lightning Dust channeling katana. In the end I just decided to re-use the Hiraishin idea with a twist; break the sword and force him to make a new one once he went to Signal. It's interesting to note that, in the storyline, Baltazar has yet to give up on the idea of creating a flute sword; however he's not making much progress in it.

Translations:

Primo/Prima: Cousin

Flujo y Reflujo: Ebb and Flow

Tormentas Suaves: Gentle Storms (Baltazar simply prefers to say the English name instead of the Spanish one)


	3. The Emerald Forest Part 2: Teams

Hello again everyone, Black Fuego here with the third chapter of The BLAD of RWBY and JNPR and the second half of the Emerald Forest section. So sorry for the late update, but I wanted to get this chapter done right and it took me longer than expected. This is the part where all 12 characters meet and interact with each other for the first time. Also, after this I will also be writing a one-shot collection that deals with the humorous happenings, both past and present, in the lives of the three teams named Life at Beacon along-side this story. Be on the lookout for it and enjoy Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own the RWBY nor any other franchises I mention in this story, only the characters I made and the weapons I created. Also, episodes 8 and 16 are awesome. Just pointing that out.

"Hi" Talking  
_"Hi"_ Thinking  
"Hi~" Singing  
_'Hi' _Memory  
'Hi' Reading  
_"__Hola__"_ Different language

The BLAD of RWBY and JNPR Chapter 3: Emerald Forest part 2; Teams are Formed

"So we're separating?" Levy asked her partner and new friends. The four have traveled together for a short time, learning a bit about each other, when Baltazar, Ash and Dia announced that they were going elsewhere.

"That's right, Levs" Ash answered, with Dia nodding in agreement, "Dia saw a cave or something not that far from here and we thought we should check it out. I think the relics might be there to be honest."

"I understand," Levy said. She turns her head to her cousin, who had his head down, eyes closed, arms crossed and leaning on a tree nearby. "And you, _primo_?"

Baltazar remained quiet for a moment before answering, "I'm worried about Ruby and Weiss. You guys saw the smoke earlier?" The three nodded, "That was from Weiss's fire Dust skill. She doesn't use it all that often unless she's surrounded. Ruby's also with her. I want to check on them to make sure they're ok."

"How do you know that they're together, dude?" Ash questioned, "And how are you going to find them anyways? This forest isn't small, ya know."

"I have my ways, mate." The shorter huntsman smiled mysteriously, "I better get going. I feel like something's going to happen to them, and I want to make sure it isn't anything bad.

"You really care about them, don't you Baltazar?" Dia said gently.

He nodded with a small smile, "Ruby's like another little sister to me. I've watched over her whenever Yang couldn't for nearly four years and Cody, my little brother, is best friends with her. If anything bad happens to her on my watch, the little guy will never forgive me. He'll never admit it to me, but he really likes her, and he made me and Yang promise to make sure that she's safe while she's here in Beacon. An unnecessary promise, but a promise that we intend to keep.

Ash and Dia nodded in understanding while Levy gave him a knowing stare, "And Weiss?"

Her cousin let out a soft chuckle as he walks over to her, "Lavanda, you of all people should know how much I care about Weiss." He reaches into his pouch and grabs a couple of blue colored ammo clips and gives them to Levy. The clips, for some reason, have her emblem on them; the crescent moon with three waves coming out of it. "These are for you. I was planning to give them to you during the summer, but I couldn't visit you because I was still in trouble with the prank Yang and I pulled before we graduated. Good luck, and be safe." And with that he vanished in a flash of blue light.

The three of them just stood together in silence, taking in what Baltazar said to his cousin. Dia turned to Levy, "He's in love with her, isn't he."

The knife user nods as she puts away the clips, "He told me about it sometime after his _Tía_ Blanca's wedding, which was a few months before he moved here to Vale. As far as I know, the only other person who knows his feelings for her is his little brother, Cody."

"The Ice Princess feels the same way, I can tell," Ash stated, gaining a questioning look from his partner. "I saw the look she had in her eyes while they were talking to each other earlier in the locker room, but I don't think she knows that she's in love with her living lightning bolt of a best friend yet."

"They're not dating?" Dia asked, receiving negative responses from the two.

"They've known each other for years." Levy began, "Their dads are good friends, their grandfathers' companies have a strong business relationship, and Baltazar's siblings see Weiss as an older sister. The two of them have done so much together that all of us believed that they'll become a couple once they got older. Then the move happened, and the two of them weren't able to see each other as much anymore. They've pulled through, though. Calls and letters along with the occasional visits helped make sure the bond they had never faded. I think the separation strengthened that bond to be honest. And now they're back together after nearly four years of being apart, attending the same school and quite possibly be in the same team." She looks up towards the sky, "Even if they're on different teams, they'll see each other constantly, just like before. It's only a matter of time before the two become a couple. It might happen during this school year if we're lucky."

"They'll get together as soon as the Ice Princess realizes her own feelings," Ash chimed in. "Normally I'd do something that would that would speed up the process, but I think it's best to let this one go naturally. I guess you girls can consider me a romantic at heart, wanting to see people get together with who they deserve. And I got to say, from what I saw and heard; those two defiantly deserve each other."

The three of them shared another moment of silence, quietly wishing the katana user luck and that the fencing heiress realizes her feelings for her best friend soon.

"So…anyone want to bet on when those two get together?" Dia asked with a wide grin.

"Me!/I'm in!" Levy and Ash shouted.

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

Ruby sighs as she sits on the grass while watching her partner Weiss pace in front of her. Things were not going as well as she would have liked. First she hit a bird on the way to the forest, and still swears that there's a feather or two is somewhere in her clothes. Then, after she found a partner and scoped the area for monsters, she and Weiss were surrounded by Beowolves. That wouldn't have been a problem if Weiss hadn't set the forest on fire, something that the heiress blames the scythe user for. And now the two of them are lost with no idea on how to get to the forest temple, even though Weiss insisted she knew where they were going. At first Ruby had doubt that Weiss was the lighting user's best friend, but this pretty much cemented the fact that they were.

Only someone who's been with Baltazar for so long can get themselves lost like this so easily like he could.

The difference between the two of them being lost is that Baltazar will admit it and would enjoy wandering around aimlessly. Weiss on the other hand was being stubborn to admit that they were lost and was bad at hiding it.

"It's this way," Weiss said as she walked to the right. She then paused and turned to the left, "I mean...this way! It's definitely this way." After a few moments she sighs and walks over to where Ruby was sitting, "All right, it's official: We passed it."

"Weiss, why can't you just admit that you have no idea where we're going?" Ruby asked in annoyance as she gets up.

"Because I know exactly where we're going!" Weiss stated, although looking a little unsure at the moment, "We're going...to...the forest temple!"

Ruby sighs in frustration after hearing that.

Weiss glared the younger girl, "Oh, stop it! You don't know where we are, either!"

Ruby glares back at her partner, "Well, at least I'm not pretending like I know everything."

"What is that supposed to mean?" The heiress asks angrily.

"It means you're a big, stupid jerk and I hate you!" Ruby shouted, releasing her pent up frustration, "You're nothing like Baltazar or Mrs. Azul described!"

"Hmph, well you're not like what Baltazar and Aunt Leti described either," Weiss countered as she turned her back to her partner and begins to walk off. "Just keep moving!"

"Oh, just keep moving! Hurry up! Waaaah! Watch where you're going!" Ruby insults in an imitation of Weiss's voice. She glares and yells in her normal voice, "Why are you so bossy!"

Weiss turns to Ruby and yells back, "I'm not bossy! Don't say things like that!"

"Stop treating me like a kid!"

"Stop acting like a kid!"

"Well, stop acting like you're perfect!"

Weiss's eyes went cold after hearing that, "I'm. Not. Perfect!" She steps back and looks at the ground, "Not even close." She then glares at Ruby again with cold eyes, "But I'm leagues better than you."

Ruby had a hurt look in her eyes, upset that someone that her older brother thinks of as a best friend…and possibly more…would say something so painful to her. She hangs her head dejectedly and mutters. "You don't even know me…"

Hearing that, however, caused Weiss to stop with a shocked expression on her face. For the pass day she's been wondering why Ruby irritated her so much. While she did have a fierce temper as a child, she managed to gain some control over it as she got older, however it will come out in full force if someone compares her specifically to one of her rotten relatives. All Ruby did was call her crabby and she grew angry. As time went on and as she was forced to spend time with Ruby, she became more frustrated of the little scythe user, and that frustration reached its peak just a few moments ago, when Ruby accused her of being perfect. She felt a little better after telling Ruby she's better than her, but also felt a little guilty after saying it, and she didn't know why. However the moment Ruby said that Weiss didn't know her, everything clicked.

She was the same as _him_.

The recklessness, the awkward attitude towards people, and if that scythe of hers was anything to go by, the same forging skills. Even the argument they just had was the same, nearly word for word, to the one she had back a long time ago, when she was lost in Forever Fall with someone she now thought of as a little brother. Even the last thing Ruby said was the same as him, down to the same tone of voice.

'_You don't even know me…'_

Ruby was the same as Cody, Baltazar's little brother.

It made sense to Weiss now. Both of them were very reckless when it came to fighting, not at all worried for their own safety. Both were awkward and shy around new people and didn't really know what to say to them. Both were even great forgers in their own rights. Weiss knows that Ruby made Crescent Rose herself and she knows that only some as skill in forging as Cody was could come up with something so powerful and dangerous, not to mention intricate, with ease.

"_That's why she was able to irritate me so easily. Cody was the only one that could ever get me mad like I was just now, and Ruby's basically a more childish, hyperactive version of him."_

She knows that Baltazar considers Ruby as much of a sister as Sarah, his real sister, is, but she didn't know the reason for it until now. He must have noticed the similarities between Ruby and Cody long ago. It wouldn't surprise her if two knew each other and thought of each other as best friends. In fact, Cody probably did say something like that to Weiss while they were on vacation, but she probably didn't hear him. She also faintly recalled Baltazar saying something this morning about the two being close, but she wasn't paying much attention at the time.

"_And now I pretty much made my best friend's new little sister, who also might be my little brother's best friend, depressed for no real reason other than she annoyed me…just like what I did with Cody."_

Weiss sighed quietly to herself and noticed that her necklace was glowing faintly. Turning her head slightly, she sees her best friend in a tree, arms crossed, looking at her with a mixture of sadness and disappointment.

"You saw everything, didn't you," Weiss whispered to him. He said nothing, but she knew that he did see, or at least heard, the argument. She sighed again and looked into his eyes. She knew what those eyes said. He was upset that she and Ruby weren't getting along like he'd hope, and disappointed because he knew that she could have handled this situation differently instead of letting history repeat itself again. She turned to look at Ruby and winced as she noticed that the younger girl was about to cry, but forced the tears back.

"_Darn it, she's even as sensitive as him and just as stubborn when it comes to crying. I have to fix this."_

"Ruby?"

Ruby looked up at Weiss, wondering what she wanted now, "W-What is it?"

Weiss winced again at the wavering tone and asked Ruby something she most likely knew the answer of already, "Do you…know anybody named Cody? Cody Azul?"

Ruby, shocked by such a random question, replied slowly, "Yeah, I know him. He's my best friend actually." She glared at her, tears threatening to fall, "He considers you his older sister and Baltazar says you're one of the few people he listens to. What, are you going to tell me to not hang out with him?"

"No! Nothing like that!" Weiss shouted in surprise. "I was going to say that you act just like him when he was younger. Even the argument we just had was similar to one I had with him a long time ago."

Ruby's eyes went wide at what Weiss just told her. "I'm…like Cody?"

"You're practically a more energetic version of him," Weiss continued, "You're both reckless in fights, both of you are forging geniuses if that weapon of yours is anything to go by and you're both pretty awkward when it comes to meeting people." Weiss then points to her eye, "Not to mention you're both pretty sensitive and try not to show it."

Ruby jumps a little as she felt the tears and tries to rub them out, causing Weiss to laugh silently to herself.

"So…I'm like Cody," Ruby repeats, "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Quite a bit actually," Weiss stated, "You irritated me greatly ever since you called me crabby yesterday and that irritation grew as we spent time together today. In fact, I haven't been as irritated or angry as I have been with you in the past two days in a long time." Ruby hangs her head in shame. "The only other person to make me as mad as I was just now was Cody, and he use to do it on purpose." Ruby then looks at Weiss in shock. "Baltazar did it once when we were ten, but it was an accident on his part."

"I remember him telling me about that last night," Ruby giggled lightly, "He said that you wouldn't talk to him for a month after that."

"Yeah…it took me a while to forgive him for that comment, but I couldn't stay mad at him forever," Weiss said fondly as she moved closer to Ruby. "Anyways, because the way you act was similar to Cody when he was younger, I guess I responded by acting like how I was when I was younger. I didn't realize what I was doing until after you said that I didn't know you. In fact the argument we had was pretty much the same as the one I had with him six years ago."

"Really?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah," Weiss nodded, "I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier, and I promise that I'll tell you about the argument I had with the little troublemaker later. But for now, we have a temple to find."

"Right!" Ruby agreed, giving her a salute.

Weiss rolled her eyes at the sight with a slight smile, "At ease, Ruby." She began to walk ahead, and turned to the tree where Baltazar was hiding. The katana user had a small smile in his mouth and nodded at the heiress, causing her to smile as well, then claps his hands together and vanishes.

"_He's gotten more comfortable with using his Stealth semblance it seems,"_ Weiss thought as she looked at where her best friend was before disappearing.

"Whatchya looking at, Weiss?" Ruby asked as she caught up to her partner.

"Oh nothing," Weiss shook her head, "So…any ideas on how to get to the temple quickly?"

Ruby began to think, then noticed something off in the distance and smiled. "I think I might have something."

Weiss turned to where Ruby was looking at and paled, "Oh God, you're practically a copy of him."

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

Yang was having a fairly good day herself. She had a good time flying in the air, had a good fight against a pair of Ursi, even though one of them cut off a peace of her hair, and managed to find a good partner in the form of the black haired book lover she met last night, Blake. Currently the two are on a hill, looking at an old circular temple with platforms inside of it, holding several gold and black objects; the relics.

"You think this is the place?" Yang asked, getting an incredulous look from her partner in response. The pair walked down to the temple and became confused as to what the relics were.

"Chess pieces?" Blake wondered, looking at a black king piece.

"Some of them are missing." Yang noted as she looked around, "Looks like we weren't the first ones here."

"Well," Blake shrugged, "I guess we should just pick one."

Yang nodded and looked at the chess pieces herself. "Hmmm." She grabbed a gold knight piece and showed it to Blake. "How about a cute little pony?"

Blake smirks at Yang's antics, "Sure."

"That's a white knight piece technically."

The pair turned to a girl dressed in purple, Levy, walking towards them.

Blake looked at the brown eyed girl curiously, "Excuse me?"

"That chess piece your partner's holding," Levy explained, pointing at Yang's knight, "It's a knight. They move in an L shaped pattern, can jump over other pieces and are very powerful in closed positions. It's considered the most unique piece in the game because of that." The other girls stared at her, "I play chess a lot and I have a _Tío_ who likes it too. I even bought him a glass chess set for Christmas a few years back."

"…_Tío_?" Blake asked.

"It means uncle," Levy and Yang explained together, causing Blake to look at her partner strangely.

Levy began smiling at the two, "Before I forget, let me introduce myself. My name is Lavanda, but you can call me Levy."

"Nice name," Yang grins as she points to herself and her partner, "My name's Yang, and this is my partner Blake."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Blake greeted the smaller girl with a smile as well.

"Likewise," Levy nods while walking around the temple, "So I take it the chess pieces are the relics?"

"Yup!" Yang confirmed, "You planning on taking one?"

"Not yet," the knife user shook her head, "I'm going to wait until my _primo_ shows up so he can decide."

"_Primo_?" Blake questioned again.

"It means male cousin," Yang explained on her own, gaining looks from both Levy and Blake. She shrugged, "When you have a good friend whose family speaks Spanish a lot, you pick up a few things."

"I see," Blake nods in understanding, then looks at Levy, "So does this mean your cousin is your partner?"

"That's right," Levy confirmed, "He left to check on something not that long ago, so he'll be here soon."

"Are you sure you he'll be able to find this place, Levy?" Yang asked in concern.

"It's not that difficult to find, Yang." Blake said to her partner.

"He'll be here," Levy reassured her new friends, "Bulbasaur likes to wander around a lot, so he'll find the temple eventually." She immediately slaps her mouth and blushes as soon as she realized what she said.

Blake and Yang just looked at her in disbelief, not entirely sure if she meant what she said.

"Your cousin…is a Pokémon?" Blake questioned slowly.

"No he's not!" Levy shouted in embarrassment, "It was something I use to call him when we were kids! His real name is Baltazar, but I had a hard time pronouncing it so I called him Bulbasaur instead. I thought it would be ok since he likes Pokémon so much, but he really didn't like it when his brother and I called him that."

"_Baltazar?" _Blake thought, "_Could she be talking about one of Yang's friends? The one who's going to be her brother in law?"_ She turned to her partner to see her shaking, her hands holding her stomach. "Yang?"

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!" Yang laughed loudly, startling the two blade users. "Oh my God! Sparky used to be called Bulbasaur?! A freakin' Pokémon?! I can't believe it! I have to tell Ruby! Does Weiss know?! HAHAHA! Oh God I can't breathe!"

Blake stared at the hysterically laughing blonde in disbelief before noticing something in the sky, while Levy paled greatly.

"_Oh dear Lord, she's _that_ Yang!"_ She though fearfully and started to shiver, _"I am so dead once Baltazar gets here."_

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

"Think this is the place?"

Ash and Dia are in front of a cave entrance, wondering if will lead them to the relics. The two hear a rustling sound and turned to see Jaune and Pyrrha coming out of the bushes behind them.

Ash chucked at the sight, "Now there's a pair that I was not expecting."

Said pair looked at the spiky read head in confusion and spoke together, "Ash is that you?" The two then stared at each other in confusion and spoke together again, "You know him?"

"I showed him the way to the cafeteria and had breakfast with him this morning," Jaune explained.

"We went to Sanctum together and shared many classes as well," Pyrrha explained also.

"It's nice to see my old friend and my new friend getting along so well," Ash grinned, gaining the two's attention once more. "Jaune, Pyrrha, I like you to meet my partner, the highly beautiful and highly accurate Dia Adamas. Dia, I would like to introduce you Pyrrha Nikos; the Queen of Sanctum, and Jaune Arc; Chick Magnet #2."

"Hello, you two," Dia greeted with a smile.

"Hello, Dia," Pyrrha greeted back.

"I'm a chick magnet?" Jaune asked.

Ash laughed lightly to himself and asked, "Do you guys want to explore the cave with us? Dia and I think that the relics are inside this place."

Jaune and Pyrrha looked at each other for a moment before shrugging.

"Why not?" Jaune replied, "What's the worst that could happen?"

A few minutes later, the four of them began walking down the cave, with Ash leading the way with a torch.

"I don't think this is the place…" Pyrrha states as she looks around the cave.

Ash sighs, "Pyrrha, Jaune made the torch. Can you at least humor us for, like, five more feet?"

"Please don't drag me into this, Ash." Jaune begs.

Suddenly Ash trips, causing him to drop the torch. The torch lands in a puddle, putting out the fire and leaving the small group in the dark.

"Do you…feel that?" Pyrrha asks the others.

"Soul-crushing regret?" Jaune supplied in depression.

"No, it's…warm," Dia said.

"We must be getting close then," Ash states, causing the others to stare at him in disbelief if they could see him.

A little while later the group comes across a glowing gold bulb floating ahead of them.

"That's the relic!" Ash exclaims as he runs towards the bulb to grab it, only for the bulb to move away from him. "Hey! Bad relic!"

"Uhh, Ash?" Dia asks in worry.

"I don't think that's the relic," Jaune whispered to his partner.

"I don't believe so either," Pyrrha answered back.

"Gotcha!"

Jaune and Pyrrha turned their attention back to Ash, who managed grab on to the bulb. Unfortunately the bulb began moving again, taking the shotgun user with it. Jaune runs up to him and grabs his legs in an attempt to pull him down, but ends up being picked up instead. The bulb stops moving again, and the guys began to see multiple red eyes and lines in front of them. Seeing all the red, the guys only had one thing on their mind.

"_Ah crap…"_

Pyrrha and Dia, weapons drawn, run out of the cave, with a giant monochrome scorpion, the Death Stalker, right behind them. Ash and Jaune were still hanging on to the bulb, now revealed to be the scorpion's stinger, yelling for help.

"Help, Pyrrha!" Jaune cried.

"Dia, I was wrong! It's not the relic!" Ash screamed.

"Jaune, hang on!" Pyrrha shouted.

"Ash!" Dia called out, "Whatever you do, don't let-"

The Death Stalker suddenly hurls its tail back and launches the poor boys far away from them.

"…go." Dia finished lamely.

The girls look at the Death Stalker approaching them and then look at each other.

"Shall we?" Dia asks

"Let's," Pyrrha agrees.

The two looked at the Death Stalker, gave it a goodbye wave, and ran as far as their legs could carry them, with the beast on their tail.

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

"_I've got to take it easy with the speed today or else I'll burn myself out._"

Baltazar was resting on a tree branch near the temple, trying to replenish his aura and cool down his legs. He may be considered one of the fastest students in Signal, but he gets tired quite easily if he used his high speed for long distances like he has earlier or if uses it too often. It was the main reason why he tries to finish fights quickly, so he wouldn't be too exhausted. His 'flash step' as people called it, was basically an illusion made by his Stealth semblance, just an effect, to hide his movements. He was fast, but only as fast as Ruby at his best, and the girl has the potential to be faster as she grows older. The only reason why she's not listed as one of the fastest in Signal was because Baltazar used his speed more often than Ruby did, even though she had the Speed semblance, and Ruby likes to use the recoil from Crescent Rose to boost her speed, while he prefers to use his legs alone, adding to his credibility.

He smiled as he thought of Ruby. He heard the argument she had with Weiss and he honestly thought that Weiss was being too hard on the scythe user. He loves Weiss, he can't deny it, but even he'll admit that she's prone to losing her temper quite a bit, especially when they were younger. Luckily the heiress managed to learn from her mistake quickly enough and managed to apologize before it became an exact repeat of the argument she had with Cody, and he did not want to try and pull people up from a cliff again. Weiss was right about one thing, though. Cody and Ruby do have a lot in common. It's no wonder the two are best friends and have crushes on each other.

Baltazar began to hear voices, and opens an eye to see Yang, Blake and Levy talk amongst themselves. He smiles at the sight of the three getting along. He knows that his cousin will like Yang and vice versa. His only fear, though, is that Levy might slip and call him by that nickname again. She already did it with Ash and Dia earlier, and he practically begged them not to call him that. If Yang managed to learn about that old nickname, then there's no hope for him.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!" Yang's laughter caused the lightning user to open his eyes wide in shock and paled. "Oh my God! Sparky used to be called Bulbasaur?! A freakin' Pokémon?! I can't believe it! I have to tell Ruby! Does Weiss know?! HAHAHA! Oh God I can't breathe!"

Baltazar blushed brightly, glad that no one's has seen him yet and glared at his unsuspecting cousin, who was practically shivering in fear at the moment. "You are so dead when I get down there, Levy."

"HEADS UUUUUP!"

"AAAAAHHH!"

"What the he-"

*_CRASH*_

Ruby, who was just recently falling from the sky again heading towards the temple, found herself on a tree branch with a dazed look, stars and Beowolf pups floating around her head.

"Ohh…what was that?" Ruby asked in her dizzy state as she shook her head to rid herself of the dizziness.

"That's what I want to know…" Baltazar grumbled from underneath the confused scythe user.

"Eh-hem!"

The two looked up to see Jaune, who was sent flying into Ruby thanks to the Death Stalker, hanging upside down and looking at the high speed pair. "Hey Ruby…Baltazar…"

"Hey Jaune, how's it hanging?"

"Big Bro…please don't."

Back on the ground, Levy, Blake and Yang, who immediately calmed down after hearing her sister scream, looked at the tree the others were at with confused looks.

"Did your sister just fall from the sky?" Blake questioned Yang, curious as to how she was in the sky again.

"And where did that blonde boy come from?" Levy asked.

"I…" Yang began to speak before a shout interrupted her.

"INCOMING!"

*_SLAM*_

The girls turned their heads in shock to see Ash behind them the inside the temple, with a few of the relics on the floor due to the impact.

"Thank the Lord I set my Durability to auto before going into the cave, or else that would have hurt a lot more than it did just now."

He picks himself up and notices a black king piece rolling towards him and grabs it, looking at it curiously.

"A chess piece? This has to be a relic." He pockets the piece and turns to see the girls staring at him in shock. His eyes went wide and smiled brightly as he sees Blake and Yang.

He runs to the two girls and places a hand on their shoulders, surprising the pair. "Wow…get yourself flung by a monster, get yourself a relic and two hot ladies in return. You two beautiful huntresses wouldn't happen to know where I am now, would you." He hears someone giggling and looks to see Levy in front of him, amused by his antics. He lets go of the other girls and gives the healer a wave. "'Sup Levs?"

"Hi, Ash," Levy waived back.

"Did this…fiend just flirt with us?" Blake questioned her partner again, not really liking the red head's flirtatious attitude.

Before Yang could say anything, the group heard several loud crashes and roars, and turn to see an Ursa coming towards them…with Nora ridding on it.

"YEEE-HAWW!"

The Ursa soon drops dead, disappointing it's hyperactive rider. "Aww, it's broken…"

She inspect her fallen ride as Ren comes by, panting in exhaustion due to trying to chase down Nora's ride and his lone encounter with a King Taijitu, similar to what Baltazar and Levy had to deal with earlier.

"Nora! Please…don't ever do that again," The magenta streaked teen asks his best friend, but notices that she's not with him at the moment.

Nora is seen over at the temple, admiring the relics that haven't been knocked down by Ash's impact, specifically a white rook relic. "Ooohh." She then grabs it and proceeds to sing and dance with it on hear head.

"I'm queen of the castle!~ I'm queen of the castle!~"

"Nora!" Ren shouts in frustration.

Nora stops dancing and salutes to her best friend with a giggle, letting the relic fall into her hand, "Coming Ren!"

The girls stare at the bubbly, skipping, orange haired teen in disbelief, while Ash looked at her with amusement.

"I like her," he states, "She knows how to have fun."

Levy looks at him curiously, "When you say 'like'…"

"She's interested in someone already," Ash said while pointing at Ren, having already explained his flirting policy with her and Baltazar before they separated.

"Ah."

"Did that girl just rode in on an Ursa?" Blake asked again, not really believing what she saw earlier.

Yang was about to speak before she was interrupted again by the sounds of screeching and trees falling. Everyone turned to see Pyrrha and Dia running with the Death Stalker right behind them.

"Jaune!/Ash!" The two shot out, hoping that their partners are ok.

"Dia!" Ash shouts in surprise.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune shouts out as well, standing on the same branch as Ruby and Baltazar because the two helped him out earlier. The dark haired duo looked at the monster as well, surprised by how old and strong it seemed. The three of them proceed to jump down the tree, alerting the others of their presence, specifically Yang and Levy.

"Ruby?/Baltazar?" The two asked, one in surprise and one in fear.

"Yang!/Lavanda!" The other pair exclaimed, one in happiness and the other in anger.

"Nora!"

The sisters were about to hug and the cousins were about to quarrel when Nora popped up in between the four, shouting her name and startling them.

Soon enough, the group of nine gathered together and looked at the Death Stalker that was still chasing Pyrrha and Dia, none of them sure if they could help or not.

"Did those two run all the way here with a Death Stalker on their tail?" Blake asked one more time, setting Yang off.

She yells, eyes glowing red and flames surrounding her, "I can't take it anymore! Can everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?!"

…Two seconds later.

"Say Ruby, where's Weiss?" Baltazar questioned, causing Yang to hang her head in depression.

The scythe user points up, and everyone sees Weiss hanging for dear life on a talon of a giant black bird Grimm, the Nevermore.

"Holy crap, that is one big bird!" Ash exclaims pointing to the Grimm.

"How can you leave me!" Weiss shouts to Ruby, feeling a little betrayed.

"I said 'jump'!" Ruby retorts, shrugging her shoulders.

"Why does that look like something little Cody would do?" Levy says to herself, looking at Weiss.

"She's gonna fall," Blake remarked in a bored tone.

"She'll be fine," Ruby tries to reassure every one.

"Who are trying to fool Ruby, us or you?" Jaune questions the young huntress to be.

"She's falling," Ren states in the same tone as Blake.

"I got her," Baltazar tells the others. He was channeling aura to his feet while everyone was talking, preparing to catch the heiress. _"Oh this is going to be murder on my legs…"_

He jumped up to Weiss and managed to catch her. As they descend, he channeled more aura to his legs in hopes to lessen the damage to them. They land safely, but Baltazar's legs waivered a lot due to the fall he had to take. _"I knew it. Even with the extra protection, my legs feel like they're on fire. I better have Levy check on me after this is all over."_

"Are you ok?" Weiss asked, seeing him wince in pain.

"No worries, Weiss," Baltazar says, trying to soothe the worried girl, "I'll have Levy patch me up in a bit. Your safety was more important at the moment."

Weiss smiles and hugs her best friend lightly before jumping out of his arms, muttering softly, "My hero."

The lightning user hears her and smiles. The pair joins back with the others just in time to see Pyrrha and Dia jump towards them, completely exhausted.

Yang speaks up sarcastically, "Great! The gang's all here! Now we can die together!"

Ruby smirks to her sister, "Not if I can help it!" She then charges towards the Death Stalker, hoping to beat it.

"Ruby, wait!" Baltazar shouts and begins to run after her when he suddenly drops to his knees. Levy and Weiss run towards him as he mutters to himself, "Dammit, my legs took too much damage from the fall! I can't run right now!

Ruby attacks the giant scorpion with her scythe but the beast counters it with its giant claws, sending her to the ground.

She picks herself up, but slowly, "D-Don't worry! Totally fine!"

"Less Talking, More Running!" Baltazar roared, eyes turning into their blue, slit pupil form.

Ruby takes a shot at the Death Stalker, noticing that it did no effect, before heading to her brother's advice. As she ran, the Nevermore begins following her, getting ready to attack.

"Ruby!" Yang shouts as she runs towards her sister.

"Yang! Be careful!" Baltazar calls out. He turns to Levy, who is in the middle of healing his legs, "You almost done yet, Lavanda?"

"I'm going as fast as I can," Levy states calmly. "You know this is a delicate process, so stop moving your legs too much!"

The Nevermore caws, gaining their attention, and fires a volley of razor sharp feathers at the sisters. One of the feathers nearly hits Ruby, but a few shuriken thrown by Baltazar manages to change the feather's path, making it hit her cloak and trap her instead, much to Baltazar's chagrin. Yang found herself in a similar situation as Ruby; with a group of feathers surround her in a cage like fashion, preventing her from getting closer.

"Ruby, get out of there!" Yang shouts in worry.

"I'm trying!" Ruby yells back as she tugs her cloak.

"Use your scythe to get free! Hurry!" Baltazar advises, feeling extremely guilty for getting the girl trapped in the first place.

It was too late though. The Death Stalker managed to catch up to Ruby, and was about to attack the scythe user with its stinger. Ruby closes her eyes in fear and waits for the beast to strike.

"RUBY!" Baltazar and Yang screamed, while a white blur passes by them.

"You really are like him. You're just as reckless."

Ruby, wondering why she hasn't been impaled yet, opens her eyes to see the stinger only a few inches away from her, incased in ice and trapping the Grimm. She also sees Weiss as well, Myrtenaster stabbing the ice, and realizes that she managed to stop the Death Stalker from killing her.

"Weiss…"

"You're also quite different from the little troublemaker as well," Weiss continues as she turns to Ruby, removing her rapier form the ice in the process, "Unlike him, you're childish, hyperactive, and your fighting style needs work." She then gives Ruby a small smile. "Look, I know I can be a bit difficult to get along with, but if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this together. So if you quit trying to show off, I'll be nicer to you, ok?"

"I not trying to show off," Ruby admitted. "I just wanted you to know that I can do this."

"You're fine. Don't worry about it." Weiss reassured the scythe user. She had a bit of a lost look when Ruby began hugging herself whispering about knees, but suddenly remembers the thing that her best friend mentioned to her this morning. She smirks, "Besides, I can't let my little brother's girlfriend get hurt on my watch. He'd never forgive me if that happened." Satisfied with the bright blush and look of surprise on Ruby's face, Weiss smiles fully and heads back to the others.

While all this was happening, Yang was staring at the scene before her in amazement. She couldn't believe that Weiss of all people saved Ruby, even though she was willing to give the heiress a second chance. She is grateful towards the heiress for saving her baby sister, and now she can see a little bit of why Baltazar likes her so much. She did, however, wondered if Weiss saved Ruby because someone told her to, or if she did it on her own.

"Nobody told her to save Ruby. She jumped in on her own." A voice said to Yang and suddenly the feathers trapping her were cut down. She got up and looked to see Baltazar next to her, a hand on his katana and eyes back to normal, also looking at the scene before him. "You see, the reason why Weiss got annoyed by Ruby so easily was because Ruby was unknowingly acting like how Cody use to be when we were kids. The little guy would always do something that bothered Weiss and she retaliated by lashing out on him like she did with Ruby in the auditorium yesterday or worse. Cody and Weiss were at each other's throats all the time, even more so than he and I were." This caused Yang to widen her eyes in shock. "Now, though, Cody thinks of her as the older sister he always wanted, and the two get along great. I had a feeling that Weiss will eventually get along with Ruby like she currently does with Cody. And I believe we're watching the first step of that happening right now."

Yang stares at Baltazar for a moment, taking everything in, and smiled knowing that Ruby and Weiss will be getting along now. She starts walking towards Ruby, but pauses when she notices Baltazar not following her.

He shook his head, "She needs her sister more than her brother right now. Go on ahead. I'll wait with the others. Give her a big hug for me too, would you?"

Yang nods and begins running towards Ruby. As Baltazar watches her go, he notices Weiss walking towards him and as soon as she was close enough, he pulled her in for a tight embrace, causing the poor heiress to blush furiously.

"W-W-What are you-"

"Thank you so much for saving Ruby," He whispered, shocking Weiss. "I consider her as much as a sibling as Sarah and Cody are, and Cody himself would be devastated if he found out Ruby got hurt, or worse. You did a great job back there, and Yang and I are very grateful to you."

"…It was nothing," Weiss muttered, a slight blush still on her face. Baltazar ended the embrace and the two of them began walking back to the others. As they walked Weiss asked, "How are your legs? Do they still hurt?"

"I'll be able to fight. No worries." Baltazar reassured his best friend, "Levy fixed them up as much as she could right now. I just need to rest as soon as this is all over. We all do…"

The two joined with the others with Yang and Ruby not far behind. After a while, Jaune spoke up while pointing at the Nevermore, "Guys! The thing's circling back. What are we gonna do?"

Weiss looks at everyone and motions to the relics, "Look, there's no sense in dilly-dallying. Our objective is right in front of us."

Ruby nods at her partner in agreement, "She's right. Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the Cliffs. There's no point in fighting these things"

"Run and live…That's an idea I can get behind!" Jaune said happily.

"I'm not complaining. Let's grab the relics and get out of here." Baltazar states as he, Jaune and Ruby head to the temple. Ruby grabs a white knight piece while Jaune picks a white rook piece. Baltazar on the other hand takes a black king piece that was on the floor. The three of them smiled at each other before returning to the group.

"It's time we left," Ren stated, gaining everyone's attention.

"Right. Let's go!" Ruby ordered and went ahead, the others following. Yang stood back though, with a proud look on her face.

"What is it?" Blake asks as she stood next to her partner.

Yang just stood there for a moment, watching Ruby gather everyone out of the forest. She smiles, "Nothing…" She leaves to catch up, causing Blake to smile in understanding and runs to catch up too.

The group of twelve managed to get out of the forest and into an abandoned series of structures, with the Nevermore following close by, and split up in pairs with their weapons drawn to conceal themselves from the beast. The airborne Grimm flies ahead and perches itself on a tall column in front of them and caws loudly, as if mocking the hunters in training.

"Well that's just great," Yang complained behind a pillar with her sister.

Jaune, who was standing next to Pyrrha, turned his head and noticed that the Death Stalker had managed to break free of the ice and was coming right towards them.

"Ah, man. Run!" Jaune shouts, alerting everyone of the approaching danger.

"Nora, distract it!" Ren ordered, talking about the Nevermore.

"Dia, help her out!" Ash told her partner.

The girls in question nodded and began to open fire with their explosives; Nora's grenades and Dia's blast arrows. They got the job done as most of their friends managed to get pass the Nevermore. Unfortunately they were too focused on dealing with it and failed to notice the Death Stalker approaching them from behind. Thankfully, Blake, Ren and Baltazar managed to stop the beast with their respective blades; Gambol Shroud, Storm Flower, and Azure Bolt, with a triple slash, alerting the girls of the danger behind them.

"Weiss! Get them out of here!" Baltazar ordered, his eyes in their blue, slit pupil form again.

Weiss lands in between Nora and Dia, grabs their shoulders, and creates a jumping glyph to escape. Ren, Blake and Baltazar follow, with the Death Stalker on their tail. Pyrrha notices them being chased and orders the others to go ahead, and begins firing with Miló in its hunting rifle form. Ren and Baltazar join in using their pistols and shuriken launcher respectively before being forced to dodge a claw swipe. The group of twelve runs across the bridge, not noticing the Nevermore flying toward them until it was too late. The giant bird flew right into the bridge, shattering it and separating the group. Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Nora, Jaune, Levy, Ash and Dia were on the side where the Nevermore was perched earlier while Blake, Pyrrha, Ren and Baltazar had the side with the Death Stalker.

Jaune picked himself up and looks behind him to see Ruby and the others shooting at the Nevermore, then looks in front to see Pyrrha and the gang dealing with the Death Stalker. He notices Blake being beaten back and Baltazar nearly falling off the edge and starts to worry.

"Man, we gotta get over there! They need help!" He shouts as he moves closer to the broken edge of the bridge, bringing his sword, Crocea Mors out.

"Let's do this!" Nora and Ash agreed, holding their weapons, Magnhild and Burning Crater.

"It's a great idea," Dia commented, carrying her bow, Piercing Gems, in its twin kukri blades form, "but how are we going to get across? None of us can jump that far!"

Nora and Ash share a diabolical grin as Ash answers, "Leave it to us!" The both of them knock the blondes back and shift their weapons into their melee forms, a pair of giant hammers, but Ash's hammer also has a curved blade on the other side of the hammer head, making it an axe as well. Then the two of them run to the edge of the bridge and jump. Dia and Jaune managed to pick themselves up in time to see what they're doing and pale as they realized their plan.

"No, wait!"

It was too late. The two of them slammed their hammers on the bridge and catapults the blondes two towards the Death Stalker. Then they stand on their hammers and pulled the triggers, launching themselves towards the Death Stalker as well.

As this was happening, Baltazar was firing another volley of electric shuriken, hoping that they'll pierce the giant scorpion's thick armor. Hearing the familiar sounds of weapons mecha-shifting, he turned to see Nora and Ash with giant hammers running towards the edge of their side of the bridge. Realizing what they were going to do, he calls out to the others.

"Move guys! Incoming back up!"

Pyrrha, Ren, Blake and Baltazar jumped away in time to see the four flyers striking their target in the skull. Noticing the stinger moving, they jumped off the beast and everyone moved to dodge against the incoming attack. Thankfully no one was pushed off the bridge.

"We got this!" Dia exclaimed to Blake and Baltazar, combining her knives to turn it back to its bow form. "You guys go help your partners!"

"Think you can flash over to the other side, Baltazar?" Jaune asked as he brought out his shield/sheath.

"I can't Jaune," Baltazar shook his head as he adjusted his gauntlets, the Gentle Storms. "The flash is just an effect made by my aura. I just move fast, not teleport. But I do have a way to get there." He looks over at Blake, "I'm going to go straight to the girls, think you can check to see how tough that Nevermore is?"

"Not a problem," Blake replied, pulling out her Gambol Shroud.

"Good," The lightning user nodded, "See you on the other side!" And with that the two jumped off the bridge.

As they free fall, Blake fires her weapon in its chain-scythe form and has it stick to the edge of the bridge, while Baltazar fires a slightly larger shuriken with some thin, yet very strong wire on it and has it stick to the bridge as well. The pair of ninja swing over to the other side, where Baltazar sees the Ruby and the others standing around at the top of the columns and Blake sees the Nevermore flying above her.

"Good luck, Blake," Baltazar said, and severs the connection he had with his wired shuriken. He fires another one and proceeds to swing over to the girls.

Blake nods and leaps over to the aerial Grimm's back. She attacks the beast constantly with her sword before being forced to jump.

As luck would have it, she managed to land on the same area that her partner and the others were at. She turns around to see Baltazar behind her with Levy next to him and nods before she relays what she learned to the others as she moves to stand next to Yang, "It's tougher than it looks!"

"Then let's hit it with everything we got!" Yang announces, readying her own gauntlets; Ember Celica.

Ruby and the others nod and proceed to ready their own weapons; Ruby shifting Crescent Rose to its scythe form, Weiss changing the Dust she's using for Myrtenaster, and Blake setting Gambol Shroud ready to fire in its pistol form.

"This is going to use up a lot of aura…" Baltazar mutters as he charges Azure Bolt with aura and Dust to the point where a faint blue aura surrounds the blade. He turns to Levy, who was shifting Flujo and Reflujo into their T-R-B pistol forms. "Levy! Change the setting of your weapon and use the clips I gave you."

Levy nods and flips a switch on her weapons' pistol forms and proceeds to reload the gun with the ammo her cousin gave her and begins to open fire like everyone else.

Sniper rounds, ice beams, pistol rounds, ranged incendiary rounds, lightning beams, and even high impact water blasts are fired at the flying Grimm. The Nevermore dodges away from most of the attacks and shrugs off the rest, and crashes into the column the group were standing on. Nobody wasted any time as they tried to get out of the collapsing column and move to higher ground, with Blake running up pillars, Yang punching through debris, Weiss air stepping to the top, Ruby launching herself with her scythe, Baltazar flashing from one falling stone to the next in rapid succession, and Levy using her newly obtained water bomb rounds to propel herself into the air.

The group of six manages to the upper part of the bridge, but getting separated at the process. Ruby, Weiss and Baltazar land together, and Weiss looks at the giant bird in annoyance.

"None of this is working," she stated, while Baltazar glared at the Grimm with his cat like eyes.

Ruby turns her head to see Blake and Levy landing next to each other on another section of the area and looks up to see Yang on top of a pillar, shooting at the Grimm. She turns her attention to her partner and brother. "I have an idea. Cover me!" She then blasts away on her scythe, presumably to the others. Weiss and Baltazar look at each other for a moment, nodded, and charged forward, swords drawn.

Back on the lower area, Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, Ren, Ash and Dia stood together as they continue to fight against the Death Stalker.

"We gotta move!" Jaune shouts. As soon as he said that, everyone begins to rush towards the giant scorpion, weapons ready for action. The beasts attempt to strike Pyrrha with its claw, but she manages to deflect it with her shield, Akoúo, and slashes the claw away with her blade. It tries to attack her again with its other claw but Jaune blocks it with his own shield and slashes it with Crocea Mors as well, knocking it back a little. Pyrrha sees this and jumps over to attack its face. She looks back and jumps again as Dia fires a few shock arrows at the beast in hopes of stunning it. Ren and Ash, who switched his weapon to shotgun mode with ranged shots, run up to it and began firing at it as well before jumping to get away from the incoming stinger. The two latched on to it and begin to fire at the base of the tail hoping to get it off as Nora proceeds to switch her weapon over to grenade launcher mode and begins to fire grenades at the Grimm's claws. Looking at each other briefly before nodding, Pyrrha and Dia attacked together, Pyrrha throwing her spear while Dia firing a standard arrow, and managed to hit two of the monster's eyes. Unfortunately the attack caused Grimm to throw Ren and Ash off its stinger, making their partners scream in worry.

"Ren!/Ash!"

The two crashed into a stone block and began to fall to the ground. Ash landed first, with Ren landing right on top of him…hard.  
_"Oh man this hurts,"_ Ash thought through the pain, _"That fall I had earlier must have weakened my Auto-Endurance more than I thought; otherwise I wouldn't be as hurt as I am now."_

Jaune looks over to his friend before turning to the Grimm with a glare. As he glared, he noticed that the stinger was hanging limply; looking like it might fall soon.

"Pyrrha!" He called out to his partner.

"Done!" Pyrrha nods, noticing the same thing Jaune did. She throws her shield at the stinger, severing it and causing it to land on the Grimm's skull. She also manages to retrieve the shield back as it rebounds to her.

"Dia, get ready!" Jaune orders to the marksman.

"Right!" Dia obeys, taking out her last blast arrow and pulls her bow back.

"Nora, nail it!" Jaune tells the bomber.

"Heads up!" Nora shouts to the others as she runs over to Pyrrha. She slams her hammer on Pyrrha's shield and together they launched the little powerhouse into the air, who was giggling in the process. With a fierce grin, Nora dives down and prepares to deliver the blow to the Grimm, but just before the impact Jaune cried out one more time.

"Fire!"

Dia fires her arrow with expert time and precision and the two attacks meet to deliver a powerful blow to the Death Stalker. To add insult to injury, Nora pulled the trigger on her hammer to create a small explosion herself, causing the rest of the bridge to break and the four of them to be launched into the air back to the cliff. As the Death Stalker falls to its death, the four hunters landed somewhat safely on the ground while Ren and Ash staggered towards them before collapsing in exhaustion. Glad that everyone in their group is safe, Jaune and the others turn back to see how their friends are doing.

Yang is seen still on the pillar, firing away at the Nevermore. While some of the shots hit, it wasn't enough to deter the aerial Grimm and continues to fly around the blonde gauntlet user. Suddenly Yang sees a purple blur, Levy, high in the air and land on the Nevermore. The healer stabs the Grimm in a similar matter to how she did with the King Taijitu and proceeds to try and guide it like an airplane. Yang, happy with the help, fires at the bird again to get its and Levy's attention. Levy smiles, and tries to send the Nevermore over to Yang, with the Nevermore not struggling as much since it just got hit in the face by Yang and wants revenge. As the two came closer, Yang jumps into the beast's open beak and begins to feed it something very special: flaming ranged shotgun rounds.

"I. Hope. You're. Hungry!"

Felling very satisfied, Yang turned her head to see that they were heading to the cliff and jumped off immediately with Levy right behind her, letting the Nevermore crash into the cliff. The two looked forward as they saw Ruby and Blake watching over them while Baltazar was running towards them with Weiss right behind them. Smiling, Yang and Levy run towards the others as Baltazar and Weiss move past them.

Seeing the Nevermore was about to fly again, the two spring into action. Baltazar jumps first, and slashes the air in front of him, creating a lightning sword beam that strikes the recovered Grimm hard, stunning it in the process. Weiss jumps soon after, and stabs the ground under the Grimm, creating a large ice structure and traps the beast by its tail. They land together and began to head back to the others.

Baltazar meets up with Levy, who was standing next to Ruby, and speaks to her, eyes brown once more, "We've done our part, Levy. Let the others handle this." She nodded and the cousins disappear in blue and purple blurs, leaving Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang to finish off the Nevermore.

Blake, standing on a column, fires the pistol portion of Gambol Shroud over to Yang, also on a column, and the two tighten the ribbon between them as Ruby jumps on the center with Crescent Rose and bends it back into Weiss's black glyph.

"Only you and that crazy boyfriend of yours can come up something like this," Weiss states in a light teasing tone, ready to fire.

Ignoring the boyfriend comment, Ruby asks calmly, "Think you can make the shot?"

Weiss has confident look on her face and smirks, "Hmm, _por supuesto_."

Ruby blinks in confusion, "Did you-"

"I did, and I said 'of course'," Weiss confirmed.

Ruby nods and glares at the Nevermore, readies her scythe, and Weiss launches her into the beast, the floor behind them breaking a little in the process. The scythe user ascends in a trail of rose petals, firing many shots in order to speed up. Then she manages to catch the trapped Grimm by the neck with her weapons blade and continues to fly towards the cliff with the beast in tow. Before landing, Weiss creates a multitude of glyphs on the cliff, creating a path for her partner to run on. The moment Ruby lands, she charges, running up the cliff while dragging the Nevermore with her by the neck, continuing to fire shots to prevent herself from slowing down. As she nears the top, a voice rings in her mind, a voice that brings a smile to a face every time she hears it. The voice of her best friend.

'_Good luck at Beacon, Rubes. And promise me that you'll slice the head off the first big Grimm you meet. We all believe in you, especially me.'_

Reaching the top, Ruby smiles at the memory and prepares to deliver the killing blow to the Nevermore. _"Thank you, Cody. Here's your reward."_ With a yell and one last shot, Ruby fulfills the promise she made and decapitates the Grimm, its head landing right next to her after she lands, and body falling down the cliff. The rest of the group look up at her in awe, clearly amazed by what the little girl just did.

"Wow…" Jaune said, with Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren behind him.

"You can say that again…" Ash commented, with Dia by his side

As Ruby, with rose petals flying around her, walks to the edge of the cliff to check on her new friends, Yang looks up at her sister with pride, happy with her sister's accomplishment, with Blake and Weiss standing by her.

"Well…that was a thing." She said, looking at the others

Behind the girls were Levy and Baltazar, also looking at the red cloaked girl. Levy was staring at Ruby with eyes full of amazement, while Baltazar was sitting, exhausted by today's events, with a small smile and a tired yet proud look of on his face.

"You've done great, Ruby. You really are special."

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

"Russel Thrush. Cardin Winchester. Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark." Ozpin announced as the four students mentioned walked up to him as an applause was heard and the screen behind them showing everyone a picture of the students mentioned. "The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL (Cardinal), led by...Cardin Winchester!"

As soon as initiation was finished, everyone in the school found themselves at the auditorium, congratulating the new students who past the tests and watching the new teams be formed.

As team CRDL walks off the stage, Ozpin announces the next group. "Baltazar Azul. Lavanda Morado. Ashton Yasur. Dia Adamas." The four of them marched over to the headmaster. "The four of you retrieved the black king pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team BLAD (Ballad)."

"Nice name," Ash commented with a smile on his face.

"I like it," Levy whispered as Baltazar and Dia nodded in agreement.

"Led by…Baltazar Azul!"

The new leader turns head to Ozpin, eyes wide and mouth gaping, "_¿__Qué __dijo__?__"_

Ozpin looked at the stunned teen and smiled. "_Buena suerte, joven._"

A little surprised that their headmaster knew Spanish, Team BLAD left the stage, with Levy dragging her still stunned cousin, as Ozpin goes on with the next team. "Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie." They walked up to the stage "The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR (Juniper)."

The four of them smiled, happy to be in a team together. Nora was so happy she hugged Ren, surprising him slightly, but smiled regardless.

"Led by…Jaune Arc!"

Jaune looks at Ozpin in surprise while Pyrrha grins at her new team leader, "L-Led by?"

The man simply nods at Jaune with a smile, "Congratulations young man."

Pyrrha gives the shocked Jaune a friendly shoulder punch, but the leader was not prepared for it and fell to the ground, causing the audience to laugh.

Team JNPR leaves the stage as Ozpin announces the final team, "And finally: Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long" The girls stand before him, "The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY (Ruby). Led by... Ruby Rose!"

Weiss's eyes widen in surprise and looks over at Ruby, who was also surprised by the announcement. Yang runs up to her sister/leader and gives her a big hug, "I'm so proud of you!"

Ozpin smiles at Team RWBY's antics, "It looks like things are shaping up to be an...interesting year."

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

Soon after the Team Placement Ceremony was finished, many students decided to go to their dorms and turn in for the night. Weiss is seen wandering around the dorm building, looking for her best friend. During her team's get together with JNPR and BLAD after the ceremony, she noticed that Baltazar looked very distracted and was very quiet during the gathering…quieter than normal. When the announcement came for everyone to return to the dorms, he was the first to leave, but when Weiss asked his teammates if he was with them, they said he never showed up. Levy told her not to worry about him, but Weiss still wanted to know if he was ok.

"Weiss?"

The heiress jumps in surprise and turns around to see Ren behind her, looking at her curiously.

"Ren! What are you doing here?" Weiss asks.

"I live here now," Ren states, pointing at the door to his left. He then points at the doors to his right, "Your team lives across from mine and if I remember right, Team BLAD has the room right next to yours."

"I know that!" Weiss shouts, startling Ren for a second. She takes a deep breath to calm herself. "Listen, have you seen Baltazar around? I've been looking for him for a while now and I'm worried. He looked really distracted when we were talking earlier and I wanted to make sure that my best friend is ok."

"Best friend?" Ren questioned.

"Of course," Weiss confirmed, "We've known each other since we were kids and practically grew up together before he had to move here to Vale nearly four years ago. Did you not think we were friends or something?" She finished with a slight glare.

"Well…kind of," Ren confessed, making Weiss glare harder, "It's not what you think, though. With the way you two interacted, with the hugging and all, I thought he was your boyfriend to be honest."

"B-B-Boyfriend!?" Weiss stuttered, blushing like mad, "H-H-He's not my b-boyfriend! We just grew up together, that's all!"

"Ok ok, I get it," Ren chuckled as he tried to calm down the flustered glyph caster. "Listen, I don't know where he is, but if I see him, I'll let you know, ok?

Weiss smiles gratefully, "Thanks Ren, I appreciate it." She was about to leave when curiosity got the better of her, "By the way, why are you out here anyways?"

"Nora asked me to check the roof for something," Ren explained, causing Weiss to raise a brow. "I know, it's strange, but she told me that she saw a shadow on the roof standing on the edge, staring at the moon" this caused her eyes to widen, " I don't know what to make of it though. Nora thinks it's an alien or something waiting for its friends."

"I see," Weiss mutters, taking the information in. "Listen, why don't I check the roof for you, ok?"

Ren looks at her curiously, "Why?"

Weiss has a small smile as she answers, "I might have an idea as to what that shadow is that Nora saw. Just don't tell anyone that I went on the roof, ok?" And with that she speed off in a white blur.

Ren just stared at where Weiss was standing a moment ago for a short time before starting laughing lightly with a knowing smile. "Wow…she has it bad for him. Maybe I'll join in on that bet Ash was talking about earlier."

Weiss's suspicions were confirmed as she saw Baltazar sitting down on the edge of the roof, looking up at the shattered moon. She walks up to him and asks if she could sit next to him.

"…If you want." The team leader muttered.

The two sat in silence, simply staring at the night sky. Weiss looks at her best friend and notices the doubt in his eyes and speaks up.

"Hey," she started, catching his attention, "Listen; I know you're having doubts about being a team leader. I would too if I was picked, but Ozpin chose Ruby, and so long as she acts like how a leader is supposed to be, then I won't complain. And Ozpin chose you to lead team BLAD, because he knows you'll make a great leader, like I do. Besides, you have a bit of experience being a leader, don't you?"

"I don't think being the oldest of three siblings counts as having leadership experience Weiss, no matter what Pop told you otherwise," Baltazar chuckled lightly before looking down. "And besides, how can I be a good leader, if I can't even be a good teammate or partner?"

Weiss looks at him in shock, "What are you talking about? You're a great teammate and partner! I should know; we've trained together a few times with Levy when we were kids. Levy also told me how you managed to take care of a King Taijitu by yourself before Dia and Ash showed up, and you even saved Ruby from being impaled by the Nevermore's feathers."

"Think about what you said just now Weiss," The lightning ninja argued, angering the heiress a little. "Yes, I did take down that snake monster, but as you just said, it was by myself. I didn't let Levy help because I knew she wouldn't be able to help much. She prefers to heal, not hurt, even though it was a Grimm. As for the thing with Ruby, I may have prevented her from getting killed by the Nevermore, but I did nearly get her killed by the Death Stalker if it wasn't for you. I couldn't use my legs and I had to fire regular shuriken instead of my electric ones because those would have most likely just cut through the feather, possibly making it sharper in the process."

Weiss was very anger at this point. Her best friend was doubting himself too much too see the good he did in those situations. She knew of his self-confidence issues, but she honestly thought he was taking this too far. She had to make him realize that he was better than this before it was too late.

"Seriously, Weiss, I don't think that I'm cut out to be-"

"WILL YOU SHUT UP AND STOP DOUBTING YOURSELF, YOU DUNCE!" The Dust fencer shouted, startling her best friend and quite possibly waking up everyone who was sleeping in the dorm. "Yes, you fought the Taijitu by yourself without having your cousin help you, but you knew her skills and limits and did what you thought was best and took it down without her to keep her safe! And what more could you have done to help Ruby in the condition you were! You did the best that you could! You may have accidently got her stuck for a bit, but it was better than the alternative, wasn't it? You even used your standard stars because you knew that the electric ones would have made the situation worse!"

She takes a deep breath and attempts to calm down. "Baltazar, you're a better leader and teammate than you realize. Everything you did today in the forest shows that. The snake Grimm, saving Ruby, protecting Dia and Nora alongside Blake and Ren, and Blake even told me that you warned everyone about Ash and Nora's stupid rescue idea, preventing everyone from getting hurt or falling off the bridge. And don't even get me started with the water bomb rounds that _you_ made for _your_ partner for her pistols knives that _you _upgraded before you moved here."

She moves her face close to his and points a finger at him, "Now you listen and you listen well. You're going to be a good team leader. You have strong team ready to fight with you, you're a great huntsman with an amazing semblance, you've trained for ten years to be as skilled as you are, and most importantly, you're a kind and caring person that will do whatever it takes to ensure that you're friends and family are safe and happy. All you need to do is believe in yourself, and things will be ok." She finishes with a gentle smile, before glaring again. "But so help me if I catch you doubting yourself again, I will drag you to back to the Emerald Forest in a block of ice, tie you to a tree branch, and leave you there for the Grimm to use you as a frozen piñata for a week!"

Baltazar just stared at his best friend, surprised that she believed in him like that. He always had self-confidence issues, ever since he was young, when most of the adults in his family said he wouldn't be a good huntsman because of his health conditions. He's fine now, but he has to make sure that he doesn't get any infections of any kind or else there will be trouble. It's the major reason he trained so hard to increase his speed, to make sure he doesn't get hit too often. His self-confidence also took a huge blow when it was discovered that his brother was a forging genius while took too long making even the simple things. He was ok with it now, but the damage was done, and the black haired teen would often doubt himself whenever it comes to certain things, including being a partner or leader. Now though, Weiss was telling him otherwise, giving him examples to prove it. She believes in him. Even when they were kids she never left his side unless she had to be with her family, supporting him in many ways. If Weiss thinks he'll make a good leader, then he'll just have to believe her and do his best to be the leader she knows he'll become. Besides, he didn't want to be a frozen piñata for the Grimm. He knows she'll do it. In fact she actually did that once to one of his more vulgar cousins a couple years back when they were on vacation together for the summer. It was both funny and scary at the same.

Baltazar sighs in defeat, causing Weiss to smile, "I really can't win an argument with you."

Her smile grew as she sat back down, "And as I said, you'll never will."

The two of them continue to sit in a comfortable silence, happy with the way things turned out. A sudden thought comes to Baltazar and turns to Weiss and asks her a question that he hadn't asked to her in a long time.

"Would you like me to play a song?"

Weiss turns to her best friend with a shocked expression. "You still play?"

"Of course!" Baltazar grins as he pulls out the black case on his back that has yet to be opened throughout the entire day.

"…I can't believe you actually had it with you the whole time," Weiss muttered in disbelief. "Besides, I thought you traded that thing in for one of those weird little guitar things you paid lessons for back at the island?"

"Ukuleles are awesome, Weiss. Don't deny it," The revealed musician mock glared as he opens the case, revealing a silver, open-holed concert flute. "Besides, why would I trade this thing in? I made it, remember? I still need to finish it, too."

"Oh please don't tell me you're still trying to accomplish that…" Weiss groaned as she palmed her face. "Didn't you say you couldn't do it because the instrument itself was too intricate already?"

"I will make this thing mecha-shift into a sword if it's the last thing I do!" Baltazar exclaimed with an excited look in his eye, making his best friend giggle. He turns to her, "So what would the lovely Miss Weiss like to hear today?"

Weiss blushed slightly, but smiles brightly because of how happy he looks, "I'll take the usual, please."

"Really?" The flautist asked. "I'm surprise you like that piece so much. It's quite depressing."

"It's my favorite and you know it," Weiss mock glared before smiling softly. "Besides, it fits us pretty well, doesn't it?"

Baltazar ponders for a moment before he chuckled softly, "Yeah, I guess it does." He proceeds to play the piece.

Weiss smiles as she hears the song begin, remembering the times she heard it as a kid, the time she performed it to an audience and most importantly, the time the young man next to her played it for her the first time. She begins to sing.

"Mirror, tell me something.~"

"Tell me who's the loneliest of all?~"

"Mirror, tell me something.~"

"Tell me who's the loneliest of all?~"

"Fear of, what's inside of me.~"

"Tell me can a heart be turned to stone?~"

"Mirror, mirror, what's behind you?~"

"Save me from the things I see!~"

"I can keep it from the world,~"

"Why won't you let me hide from me?~"

"Mirror, mirror, tell me something.~"

"Who's the loneliest of all?~"

"I'm the loneliest of all.~"

Unbeknownst to the musical pair, the door behind them was open slightly, revealing Ruby, Yang, Jaune and Levy watching them. The four heard Weiss yell earlier and decided to check out what was happening. By the time they got to the roof, Weiss was telling Baltazar the things he did in the forest and why they made him a good leader. They also heard that if Baltazar doubted himself again he'll become a frozen piñata for the Grimm in Emerald Forest to play with, and laughed a little after that. They stayed there ever since.

"I didn't know he played the flute." Jaune said

"I didn't know he made a flute." Levy spoke up. "I thought he bought it at a music store."

"I can't believe he's still trying to get that flute sword idea to work," Ruby muttered. "Cody and I tried to help him make it a few times, but they all ended up as failures."

"At least he's persistent," Yang grinned before looking back at the pair. "They do make a great couple, don't they?"

"They do," Ruby agreed, "I guess Mrs. Azul was right about her."

"All of us thought that they'll get together eventually," Levy said, "I think it might happen before the school year is over."

"I stand corrected," Jaune started, "This must be the sweet side he was talking about." He turned to Levy. "So when do you think they'll get together?"

"Actually, Dia, Ash and I are taking bets on when it will happen," Levy admitted, which peaked the others' interest, "Personally I'd give it a few months, during one of the school field trips or immediately after."

"Can we join?" The others asked together.

"Of course!" Levy grinned, "Ren just asked Ash if he could place a bet and Nora was with him so she betted to."

"Great!" Jaune exclaimed, "I'll tell Pyrrha about it. I'm sure she'll join."

"I'll get Blake on this too. She looks like someone who would be interested in stuff like this." Yang said before rubbing her hands sinisterly, "Ohh I can smell the lien already. That pool's going to be huge once everybody joins in."

"What does a pool have to do with any of this? I thought we we're betting, not swimming," Ruby asks innocently, causing everyone to laugh. "What?"

"Ah, Sis," Yang breathed out and hugged her confused sister, "Don't ever change."

Author's note: This is the most that I've ever written. Ever. Of all time. 49 pages and nearly 13,200 words at least. And that does not even include the Author's notes. I expected to finish this in one day, but it took me three because of how much content there was along with going to work. I actually finished this yesterday, but I had to go to work before I could check for mistakes and upload it.

I feel pretty good with how this chapter turned out. It had my favorite episode in it and I tried my best to fit my characters in to make it work. I hope I succeeded in that. There are a few lines that I've written that make me smile every time I read them, specifically Weiss's frozen piñata bit and Ruby's pool confusion. They were something that just popped up suddenly as I was writing and I got to say, I like them. I believe Ruby wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a betting pool and a swimming pool depending on how she heard it, since she didn't understand how Pyrrha's semblance works in the show, even after Weiss tried to explained it to her. That was a cute moment. And I want to see Weiss freeze someone and tie them to a branch like piñata. I really do. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. The next one won't be out for a bit, because I want to write down and publish the first few chapters of Life at Beacon. They'll be shorter in length, hopefully, so they'll show up soon. I've already have 4 chapters thought up which involve a sleep deprived Ren, a Friday night in a club, a telling of how Ruby and Yang first meet Baltazar's family, and the one I'm most look forward to in writing, the senior prank that Baltazar and Yang pulled with the help of their mechanically smart siblings Cody and Ruby. As soon as I finish with them I'll start on chapter four of this story, which will have the argument that Cody and Weiss had when they were younger. See you guys soon.

p.s.: I have been given a warning by a pretty awesome writer about making my over powered, so I posted an explanation of the general strengths and weaknesses of each member of Team BLAD.

*Update* I've just learned the official names of both Jaune's and Ren's weapons and put them in.

Translations:  
por supuesto: Of course  
Qué dijo: What did you say?  
Buena suerte, joven: Good luck young man.


	4. Trial on the First Day

Yo, mates, Black Fuego here with the 4th chapter of The BLAD of RWBY and JNPR. This one will cover both episodes of The Badge and the Burden, so it will be relatively short in comparison to some of the other chapters. It will most likely be the only one of this length in the story, so expect longer chapters again in the future. Enjoy the story, mates, and happy Thanksgiving.

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY, but I did convert my siblings into fans. I'm happy with that.

"Hi" Talking  
_"Hi"_ Thinking  
_'Hi' _Memory  
'Hi' Reading  
_"__Hola__"_ Different language

The BLAD of RWBY and JNPR Chapter 4: Trial on the First Day

"I feel like a freakin' businessman wearing this thing," Ash grumbled as he put his new uniform on. It was the first day of school and the males of team BLAD were getting ready in their room. It was a simple room with four beds, some shelves, drawers and desks, and a couple lamps. The team also managed to customized their room before going to bed the night before; A large stereo from Ash, a small set of handheld videogames from Baltazar, a few posters of different forests from Dia, a glass chess set from Levy, a small series of pictures produced by each member of the team and, surprisingly 4 music stands and a small stack of musical instruments set to the side. In a surprising turn of events, the members of team BLAD revealed to themselves to be musicians during the night; Baltazar's a flautist with skills with the ukulele, Levy's a trumpeter, Ash's a percussionist with a preference to drums, and Dia's an acoustic guitarist.

"At least you're able to put a tie on…" Baltazar muttered as he struggled to put his tie on. The pair was putting on their uniforms, which consists of a black suit with a white shirt, red tie and a blue vest. However, only Ash had his entire uniform on, as Baltazar had his vest and suit jacket set aside as he continued to fight with his tie, and losing.

"Honestly, _primo_, you're hopeless when it comes to these things," Levy said as she and Dia walked into the room with their uniforms on as well. Their uniforms consisted of a red plaid skirt, a brown jacket with a tan vest and white shirt. Their uniforms also consist of long stockings, yet they are optional and out of the two, with only Levy wearing them.

"I'm surprised you're having trouble with ties, Chief," Dia pointed out as Levy walked towards her cousin, "I would of thought someone like you would know how to put on a tie."

"'Chief'?" The leader questioned as Levy fixed his tie for him.

"Yup!" The archer beamed, "Back home, the leader of village I lived in was called the chief, and since you're the leader of our team, that means I can call you Chief. Is that ok?"

"I'm ok with it," Baltazar smiled as he put on his vest.

"She does have a point, though," Ash called out, "Shouldn't you know how to put on a tie? I mean, you said you've performed in a few symphony concerts alongside the Ice Princess last night. I'd expect you to know how to dress up well because of that."

"I used clip-on ties when I have to dress up, and almost no one in our family knows how to tie ties," Baltazar admitted, "Pretty much everyone in my family prefers casual over formal attire like this. Hell, when my grandfather attends his business meetings for his company, he'll often show up in casual clothes and his favorite cowboy hat and sunglasses. My family is fairly laid back and not many of us take things seriously unless it's forging or hunting or things like that."

"I'm not surprised," Levy giggled, well aware of the easy-going attitudes of her cousin's father side of the family.

"Oh, before I forget, you ladies are looking hot in those uniforms," Ash grinned to his female teammates with a thumbs up.

Dia shook her head but smiled nonetheless, "Thanks, Ash. You guys look good too."

_*TWEEET!*_

"Good Morning, Team RWBY!"

"…" Team BLAD stared at each other for a moment before turning to the left wall, where behind it lived Team RWBY in their own dorm.

"Was that Ruby?" Levy asked.

"Yup." Baltazar nodded.

"Did she just use a whistle to wake up her team?" Ash questioned.

"Most likely just Weiss. She used a lot of energy yesterday so she must of still be sleeping until now," Baltazar confirmed.

"Why does she have a whistle though? It's not an everyday thing to have unless you're a coach or something…" Dia wondered as she heard the whistle go off again.

"Yeah…that would be my sister's fault," Baltazar explained, "Sarah had a hard time getting a Birthday gift for Ruby a year ago and settled for a whistle she picked at random. Ruby used that thing to wake me and Yang up back at Signal for over two weeks at it really got on our nerves, especially mine since my hearing's sensitive."

The hammer/axe user winced, "Ouch…that must have sucked. How'd you two get her to stop?"

"Bribery," the lightning ninja sighed, "We made her promise that if she stops waking us up with the whistle, then we'd get Cody to bake his special homemade chocolate chip cookies for her. The little guy protested a little at first, but he couldn't say no to Ruby…at least not for long."

"I remember Jaune telling me about little Ruby's crush on your brother," Ash chuckled, "Sounds like the feeling's mutual, isn't it?"

"Yup," Baltazar grinned as he and the rest of his team left their room. Before they went to class, they walked over next door to RWBY's and JNPR's rooms to see if the teams want to join them.

"Ash and I are going to check on the girls. You two mind checking on Jaune's team?"

"No problem, Chief," Dia said as Levy knocked on JNPR's door.

Baltazar nodded and was about to knock before noticing that the door was open slightly. Curiosity getting the better of him, he opened the door slowly and his and Ash's eyes went wide at what they saw. Team RWBY was standing in front of them and all were dressed in their uniforms, with Ruby even wearing her trademark cloak. The team was looking at their room with both accomplishment and disappointment. Their room had a fair amount of work done to it, with, among other things, a picture of the Forest of Forever Fall from Weiss, a bookshelf filled with books from Blake, a poster of the boy band Achieve Men from Yang and strangely enough, a set of curtains that were ripped and repaired by Ruby. The room looked pretty good if it weren't for the fact that their beds were piled up in the middle.

"…This isn't going to work," Weiss pointed out.

"It is a bit cramped," Blake agreed.

"Maybe we should ditch some of our stuff…" Yang suggested.

"Or we could ditch the beds…" Ruby said slowly as a smile grew on her face, "And replace them with bunk beds!"

Weiss frowned at the idea, "That sounds incredibly dangerous."

Yang however grinned brightly, "And super awesome!"

Even Blake thought the suggestion was good, "It does seem efficient."

"That does sound like a good idea if you think about it, dude."

"We're not getting bunk beds for our room, mate. I've had enough of them in my life, thank you."

The girls jumped in surprise and turned around to see Ash and Baltazar behind them standing at their door, waving at them.

"'Sup, ladies?"

"Yo."

Blake and Weiss glared at the two smiling huntsmen.

"You fiend, what are you doing here?" Blake questioned the flirtatious red head, still not trusting him all that much.

"What have I told you about sneaking behind me, Baltazar!?" Weiss yelled, glaring specifically at her best friend.

Ruby and Yang, on the other hand were laughing a little at the sight of their teammates yelling their good friend and his own teammate, who were still smiling sheepishly at them.

"Ahh, this is going to be a great year, isn't it Sis?" Yang asked, putting an arm around her sister's shoulders.

"It will be," Ruby agreed before turning to the pile of beds, "as soon as we fix the bed problem. I still think the bunk bed idea is the way to go."

"Want us to help?" Baltazar asked after apologizing to Weiss, "Class is going to start soon and if Ash and I help, we can get it done faster.

"Wait a second you guys," Weiss protested, "I don't think we should do this. Can we at least put it to a vote?"

"You already did, Ice Princess" Ash grinned and pointed to Ruby, Blake and Yang, who had a V sign, a thumbs up, and a double rocker gesture respectively. Weiss pouts and curls her fists to her sides before she and the others went to work on the beds. After a while they stood back and looked at their work.

Ruby smiled brightly at their accomplishment, "Objective complete."

While Weiss's and Blake's beds were set on the floor, Ruby's and Yang's beds were elevated, with Ruby's being suspended by ropes over Weiss's bed and Yang's being on top Blake's bed and being elevated by four piles of hard-cover books courtesy. Ruby also used the opportunity to turn her bed into a tent with her blankets.

"…I got to say, this turned out well considering our lack of resources." Baltazar admitted.

Ash nodded in agreement before pointing to Ruby's bed, "Glad I brought that extra strength rope Ma gave me before I came here. I didn't expect to use it like this, but I won't complain."

"And we really appreciate you guys for helping us," Ruby thanked the guys before turning to her team, "Alright team, our second order of business now is-"

"Excuse me!"

Ruby paused and she and the others turned to see Levy, Dia and Team JNPR standing by her team's bedroom door.

Levy spoke again, "Uh, shouldn't we get going? Class starts in less than ten minutes and we shouldn't be late."

Everyone in Team RWBY's room paled as they realized how late it was.

"Oh crap, we gotta move!" Baltazar shouted as he and Ash ran out of the room, with their teammates behind them.

"To class!" Ruby ordered as she and her team ran out as well.

"We're gonna be late!" Jaune cried as he ran with his team to class as well.

The three teams ran for their lives in order to get to class on time. As they hurried, they passed Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch, who stared at the large group with interest. Goodwitch looked at her watch curiously while Ozpin drank a little coffee.

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

"Monsters! Demons...prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey! Ha-ha!"

"_Today's been a good day so far, although I with our teacher here was more interesting interesting..." _ Baltazar thought as he listened to the lecture. It was nine in the morning and he and Levy, along with Jaune and Team RWBY were having their first class of the day. They were in Grimm Studies class, which is being taught by Professor Peter Port, a chubby old man wearing a burgundy suit, grey hair and a large mustache that covered his entire mouth. The teacher was currently telling his students about the Grimms and even tried to make a joke about it, which failed miserably.

He continued his thoughts as Port went back to his lecture,_ "I'm surprised that I haven't fallen asleep from this guy yet. Professor Hildebrand back at Signal is more exciting than him, and that man was able to make the most dedicated of students pass out of boredom. Only thing Professor Port has going for him is that awesome mustache of his. Oh well, at least I thought of a good upgrade for Gentle Storms. I can't believe I haven't thought of this sooner…"_

"Ayyy-Yep!"

Brought out of his thoughts, Baltazar and the other students turned to their fellow huntsman in training who spoke just now. The student, who had his hand up with an excited look on his face, set his head down in order to prevent himself to be embarrassed further.

"_It's good to be enthusiastic, but there was no need for such an outburst,"_ Weiss thought as she shook her head at the display, before turning her attention back to Professor, who began to talk about himself. While trying to listen to the lecture, she noticed her leader working on something on her paper. After a while Ruby finished and showed her work to her team with a silly grin on her face; a crude drawing of Professor Port with stink lines on it and named Professor Poop. The drawing brought laughs to Yang and Blake, but Weiss was unamused and frowned at Ruby's work.

"_Ruby, what in the world are you doing?" _Weiss thought in annoyance, _"You've been acting childish since the day started and not once showed any sign of real leadership. It's like she thinks this is all a game or something! Oh she'd better shape up or-"_

"Ah-heh-hem."

Team RWBY turned to Peter, who was staring at them for a while before explaining what made a true huntsman. As he spoke, Ruby also continued with her antics, which drew the attention of her friends and made Weiss more frustrated.

"A true Huntsman must be honorable!"

Her antics include balancing an apple on a book with a pencil with a silly face.

"_Those are some good balancing skills, but does she have to make a face like that?" _Levy questioned.

"A true Huntsman must be dependable!"

Falling asleep in class…again.

"_I don't blame her for sleeping. This guy is really boring,"_ Jaune thought in amusement.

"A true Huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise!"

And picking her nose without a care, which greatly infuriated her partner.

"…Oh God, Ruby," Baltazar muttered to himself, "Your dad will throw a fit if he saw you picking your nose in public again."

"So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"

The moment those words left the professor's mouth, Weiss shot her hand in the air and answered with an angry look on her face, "I do, sir!"

Peter nodded at the heiress before gesturing to the cage behind him, which held a Grimm inside, "Well then, let's find out! Step forward and face your opponent."

Noticing the angry look on Weiss's face as she went to get ready, Baltazar immediately began to worry about his best friend, "Oh no. Weiss is very angry right now."

Jaune, who was sitting next to his fellow leader, looked at him curiously, "How can you tell?"

"Look at her face, Jaune," Levy, who was sitting next to her leader/cousin as well, pointed out, "She looks like she's about to blow up. In fact, I have reason to believe that her anger has been building throughout the morning. The way she's acting right now reminds me of when we were kids, when she lost a bet and had to hold in her anger while little Cody pestered her for an entire day."

"It must have been because of Ruby," Baltazar said, "Weiss takes the path of the huntress very seriously and worked herself to the bone to get to where she's at. Seeing someone who is assigned to be her team leader screwing around and acting like a kid must have made her frustrated. And sadly, from what I've seen, Ruby's been acting like that all morning."

Jaune continued to stare at his friend in confusion, "Why would Ruby act like a kid here? Shouldn't she start taking thing seriously? She's a leader now, right?"

"It's because she's trying to get comfortable here," Baltazar sighed, "Remember, she's skipped a couple grades to get here, by accident of all things, and she's been made leader of her own team. We can't even imagine how nervous she is right now. She's been messing around in order to relax and calm herself, but it looks like she's taken it too far. I'm not saying what she did was wrong, but Ruby still needs to learn some self-control. And sadly, what she did just now wasn't really excusable. I hate to talk like this but she needs to know that we're Beacon students now and we need to be at our best behavior...at least most of the time. Her balancing act and sleeping in class I can let slide, but picking her nose in public is not ok. If I wasn't so sure that Weiss is going to reprimand her later after this, then Yang and I would have to talk to her about her behavior."

Jaune was about to say something when he heard the cage holding the Grimm rattle some more. He and the others turned to see Weiss in her regular clothes, Myrtenaster drawn, ready to fight the Grimm, with her teammates cheering her on.

"Go Weiss!" Yang shot a fist in the air.

"Fight well!" Blake waved a small RWBY flag.

"Yeah, represent team RWBY!" Ruby simply cheered.

Weiss, however, became even more annoyed with the cheering, especially Ruby's, "Ruby! I'm trying to focus!"

"Oh…uh, sorry," Ruby apologized sheepishly.

Professor Port walked to the cage with his Blunderaxe and released the beast inside it, "Alright! Let the match…begin!"

The Grimm, now reviled to be an armored, pig-like beast with large tusks, the Boarbatusk, came out of the cage and immediately charged.

"Oh man, why did it have to be a Boarbatusk of all things…?" Baltazar groaned after seeing the beast.

"What's wrong with it being a Boarbatusk?" Jaune questioned.

"It's because of their armor," Levy explained, "Boarbatusk armor is very hard and durable, and while Weiss is a skilled huntress, she has a hard time taking out heavily armored foes. Boarbatusks also hit hard too, so she has to be careful not to let herself get hit too much."

While the cousins were talking to Jaune, Weiss was fighting the Boarbatusk. She deflected its charge with her rapier and after a few moments, she speeds to the beast in hopes of piercing its skull. Sadly Myrtenaster was caught in the beast's tusks and Weiss had a hard time getting her weapon off her opponent's grasp.

"Bold, new approach, I like it!" Port exclaimed.

"Come on, Weiss! Show it who's boss!" Ruby cheered again.

"_Shut up, Ruby!"_ Weiss thought as she glared at her leader. Her moment of distraction however caused her to loosen her grip on her sword. The Boarbatusk shook its head violently, ripped the rapier away from her and struck the defenseless heiress with its tusks.

"Oh-ho! Now what will you do without your weapon?" Peter commented.

Weiss got up in time to see the Boarbatusk charge at her again. She jumped out of the way and the beast charged into the desk. While it was distracted, Weiss used the opportunity to retrieve her weapon.

Ruby called out to her partner, "Weiss! Go for its belly! There's no armor underneath-"

"Stop Telling Me What To Do!" Weiss shouted, her annoyance towards her leader reaching its peak. Ignoring the scythe user's hurt look, Weiss sees the Grimm rolled into a ball and started to spin.

"_A Spin Dash?!"_ Weiss thought in surprise before shaking her head and creating a couple glyphs, one in front and another behind her in the air, _"I've spent too much time with Baltazar's games as a kid. Have to focus!"_

The beast charged at Weiss, but was stopped by her barrier glyph, which made it fall to its back. Seeing its underside exposed, she jumped into her platform glyph and leapt into the Grimm, Myrtenaster piercing through the beast stomach and killing it almost instantly.

"Bravo! Bravo! It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true Huntress-in-training!" Peter applauded, before turning to the rest of the class, "I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings, and...stay vigilant! Class dismissed!"

Weiss got up and panted in exhaustion before turning to Ruby and gave her a fierce glare. Before her team could say anything, she stormed off without a word.

"Sheesh what's with her?" Jaune questioned.

"Her anger reached its peak," Levy answered sadly, "Weiss always had a temper, and she's made great strides with controlling it whenever I visited her in recent years, but after everything that's happened this morning, it's not surprising that she's so frustrated."

"And all that anger is focused on Ruby right now," Baltazar sighed, "Weiss told me last night that as long as Ruby acts like how a leader is supposed to be, she'd be ok with her in charge. Sadly, with everything Ruby's done so far today, Weiss will most likely lose fate in her and start questioning if Ruby even deserves to be a leader."

Jaune's eyes widened at the information and looked at Ruby, who got out of her seat to chase after Weiss, "Isn't that kinda harsh?"

"It's like I said, she takes the path of a Huntress very seriously and hates those who think it's a game or something," Baltazar explained as he got up, "I'm going to talk to Yang about this. I just hope Weiss doesn't go too hard on Ruby…"

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

It was the end of school and Ruby was getting worried. Weiss has been ignoring her the whole day and she was angry to boot. Ruby was trying to talk to her to see what was wrong, but had no luck so far. Then she saw her target walk by, still in her normal clothes, and turned the corner. Ruby ran up to catch up to her.

"Weiss!"

The heiress sighed and turned to the persistent scythe user, "What?"

Ruby relaxed a little as she noticed that Weiss was not as angry as earlier, "Are you ok? Is there something wrong or-"

"Oh there's something wrong alright," Weiss interrupted and gave Ruby a harsh glare, "And I'm looking at it right now."

"What?" Ruby asked in shock? "What do you mean?"

"What do you mean, 'what do I mean'!" Weiss shouted, "You're supposed to be a leader, but all you've been so far is a nuisance!"

Ruby frowned at her teammate, "What did I do?"

"That's just it; you have done nothing to earn your position!" Weiss answered heatedly, "I'm willing to look past what happened in the forest, but not what happened today. You've been acting like a child all day and not once did you do anything that showed me that you can be a good leader."

Ruby began to feel upset again, "Weiss, where is this coming from? What happened to all the talk about 'working together'? I thought you believed in acting as a team."

Weiss continued to glare at her, "Not a team lead by you. I've studied and trained and, excuse me for saying this, but honestly I deserve better." She sighed and simply stared at Ruby, "Look, you're a good huntress, I'm not going to deny that, but you do not have what it takes to be a good leader." She turned to leave, but not before saying one last thing, "I'm sorry Ruby, but I believe that Ozpin made a mistake appointing you as leader…"

Ruby stared at Weiss's leaving form with sadness in her eyes. She hung her head and turned to leave when she bumped into a couple familiar people.

"Hmm...now that didn't seem to go very well."

"You can say that again, Professor."

Ruby looked up to see Ozpin and Yang in front of her. Tearing up a little, she looked at the headmaster and asked, "Is she right? Did you make a mistake?"

Ozpin laughed lightly at the question, "Well that remains to be seen."

Ruby became confused, "What do you mean?"

"He means that it's only been one day, Sis." Yang explained, "It's too soon to tell if he made a mistake or not."

Ozpin nodded and spoke again, "Ruby...I've made more mistakes than any man, woman, and child on this planet. But at this moment, I would not consider your appointment to leader to be one of them."

"I know I don't, Professor Oz," Yang grinned.

The headmaster smiled at the blonde before turning back to Ruby, "Being a team leader isn't just a title you carry into battle, but a badge you wear constantly. If you're not always performing at your absolute best, then what reason do you give others to follow you?" He smiled before he turned around and began to leave, "You've been burdened with a daunting responsibility, Ruby. I advise you take some time, to think about how you will uphold it."

Ruby nodded and watched Ozpin left her alone with her sister. Yang walked up to her and gave her a hug, which the younger girl accepted gratefully.

Yang let go and smiled at her sister, "Come on, Ruby. Let's head back. Besides, I need to talk to you about what you were doing." The blonde then glared at her lightly and pointed her finger at her, "The balancing act and the sleeping thing I could understand, but what were you thinking picking your nose like that? Dad would have grounded you for a month if he saw you doing that in public again!"

Ruby simply smiled sheepishly as Yang scolded her. She turned her head to the balcony close by and saw Weiss and Baltazar talking to each other. She smiled at the sight and left to her dorm with her sister, not noticing her brother figure looking at her with a smile on his face as well.

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

After her argument with Ruby, Weiss walked over to the balcony and noticed that Professor Port was there admiring the sunset, with Baltazar standing next to him. Curiosity filled within her and she wondered why her best friend was with the professor at the moment.

"Professor Port? Baltazar?"

"Ah, Ms. Schnee! Nice to see you!" Peter greeted.

"Hey Weiss, how are you?" Baltazar smiled at his best friend.

"What are you two doing together?" Weiss couldn't help but ask.

"Nothing bad, young lady I assure you," Peter laughed, "I was simply having a nice conversation with Mr. Azul here. Among other things, he told me how much he liked my mustache and asked me how I managed to make it like this."

Baltazar smiled nervously as he saw Weiss gave him a glare, "What? His mustache is awesome, Weiss, look at it! Makes me wish I had one like it myself to be honest."

"You get a mustache like that and I won't hesitate to chop it off with Azure Bolt fully charged with Lightning Dust," Weiss said calmly with a cold stare, which made Baltazar shiver in fright.

Peter laughed heartedly at the two, "Ah it's good to see such a wondrous pair like you two getting along so well."

The best friends blushed lightly as they realized what the retired huntsman was implying.

"T-Thank you Professor," Weiss stuttered, trying to control her blush, "I…I enjoyed your lecture!"

"Of course you did, child; you have the blood of a true Huntress in you." Peter stated as if it was a fact.

Weiss smiled at the praise, "You really think so?"

"Most surely," The veteran assured and gestured to the young man beside him, "One of the things Mr. Azul talked about was you and how hard you train to be able to come to this academy, and I must say, I am very impressed by your hard work and dedication at such a young age."

Weiss stared at her best friend in surprise and he responded with a shrug, "You've worked hard to get here. All I did was speak the truth."

The heiress smiled at the musician before frowning again and averting her gaze from the two in front of her, the events of today still on her mind. Peter saw this and grew curious.

"Hmm…something's troubling you."

"Yes sir," Weiss confirmed.

"Dear girl, confess to me your strife! I've been told that I'm a very good listener." Peter said and pointed at Baltazar, who nodded in agreement.

"Well...I-I think I should have been the leader of team RWBY!" Weiss confessed nervously.

Peter stood there in silence while Baltazar quirked an eyebrow at the question. After a few seconds he responded, "That's preposterous!"

Weiss stared at her teacher in shock, "Excuse me?!"

"I've believed in Professor Ozpin for many years, and the man's never once led me astray!" Peter explained.

"That's a lot of loyalty there Professor," Baltazar said with a smile.

"Wait a minute," Weiss called out, "So you mean to tell me that you would just blindly accept his decision even after seeing how exceptional I am?"

Peter quirked an eyebrow this time and took a quick glance at Baltazar, who was shaking his head lightly in disappointment, before answering, "With all due respect, while you have exceptional skills in the battlefield, your attitude leaves quite a bit to be desired. It reminds me of some of your more…radical members of your family."

"_He's testing her," _Baltazar thought, _"I told him that Weiss hates being compared to the corrupted members of her family and he's checking to see if she'll either loose her temper at the comment or deal with it calmly like she's supposed to."_

Weiss immediately became angry after hearing the comment, "What! How dare you!"

"My point exactly," Peter interrupted as Baltazar face-palmed.

"_And she failed. Wonderful…"_

Peter continued, "From what I see and heard; you are a very serious girl who got almost everything she wanted and lashed out on whoever thought of you negatively."

Weiss glared at the professor and crossed her arms, "That is not even remotely true."

"Weiss," Baltazar growled, his eyes flashing blue for a moment.

The heiress flinched at her best friend's tone and saw his eyes change. She then noticed the stern look on Peter's face and relented, "Ok…it's somewhat true."

Peter spoke to her calmly, "So the outcome did not fall in your favor. Do you really believe that acting in such a manner would cause those in power to reconsider their decision?"

Weiss hung her head in shame, _"He's right…I was the one who was acting like a child, not just Ruby. I shouldn't have let my temper go off on her earlier. She didn't deserve that."_ She looks up to Peter and Baltazar, hoping that they had something to say that would help her.

Peter caught her gaze and continued, "So instead of fretting about what you don't have, savor what you do. Hone your skills, perfect every technique, and be not the best leader, but the best person you can be." He smiled under his mustache, "And I must say, you're already much farther in that regard in comparison to the rest of your family."

The comment caught her by surprise, "What?"

The professor nodded, "As I said earlier, Mr. Azul talked quite a bit about you, including how you are against your family's treatment towards your company's workers and the shifty business partners your father has to deal with, along with the change of heart you had with this young man's little brother, who sounded like quite a rambunctious young lad at the time. Keep following that path and you become a great person in no time." And with that, Peter left the two alone in the balcony.

Weiss smiled at the departing professor before turning to her best friend. Baltazar had a small smile on his face as well and motioned her to come to the railing with him. She nodded and walked over next to him.

"I'm guessing you heard the argument I had with Ruby earlier," Weiss said knowingly, well aware of the katana user's sensitive hearing.

"Professor Port did as well," Baltazar admitted, which made the heiress look at him in surprise, "I know. Surprised me too when he told me about it. Must have developed his hearing while he was an active huntsman."

"Hmm…" Weiss nodded slightly and stared at the sight before her, "So…"

"You were harsh on her," The ninja interrupted, "You said things that you shouldn't have and made her very upset. To be honest, if you hadn't redeemed yourself somewhat in the end, I would have been much more disappointed in you."

"So you're taking her side then?" The glyph caster muttered, feeling a little betrayed.

Baltazar shook his head, "No. Both of you were at fault. While you could have handled it better, you did point out that she was going too far with her antics, which was something she needed to hear. Ruby on the other hand, was goofing off in order to make herself feel comfortable, but she went a little out of control in the end, especially with the nose picking bit. Yang's going to talk to her about it if she hasn't already, but the point is that both of you screwed up and both of you need to fix it."

Weiss was silent for a moment, taking in everything her best friend told her before she spoke, "You're right. I need to fix this. We both do." A smile appeared in her face and turned to Baltazar, "Thank you Baltazar. You and Professor Port helped me a lot today, and I really appreciate it."

"No worries, Weiss. Always happy to help you," Baltazar said softly with a smile on his face as well. The two turned their attention back to the sunset before them and enjoyed the comfortable silence. A few moments later Baltazar sensed someone watching them and turned to see Ruby looking at him and Weiss briefly before she turned away and walked off with her sister. His smile grew as they left, as he realized that Ruby must have received her talk with Yang and Professor Ozpin. He sighs happily and gazes at the sunset again.

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

It was late into the night when Weiss returned to her dorm. She spent the rest of the afternoon with Baltazar and thought of ways to apologize to her leader. She opened the door and noticed that everyone was asleep, with Blake curled up in her sheets, Yang spread out and snoring slightly, and Ruby's bed lit up behind the blankets. Weiss walked up and moved the blanket that was covering her bed tent. What she saw surprised her. Ruby was sleeping as well, with notes, papers and books surrounding her, a pencil in her hand, and an empty coffee cup to the side.

"_She was studying the whole time after we argued,"_ Weiss thought, amazed by her leader's determination. Feeling a little guilty for what she was about to do, Weiss cleared her throat and shook Ruby gently in order to wake her up. Ruby did wake up, but began to flail a little in surprise when she saw Weiss in front of her.

"Weiss! I-I was studying, and then I fell asleep! I'm sorry..."

Weiss placed her hand in Ruby's mouth and placed a finger on her own, telling the scythe user to quiet down. As she let go of her leader's mouth, a soft chuckling could be heard. Both Weiss and Ruby looked to see Baltazar in his normal clothes standing by the door and waving to the girls. The heiress smiled at him before turning back to Ruby and looked at the empty coffee cup.

"How do you take your coffee?"

Ruby was a little surprised by the sudden question, "I…I don't…"

"Answer the question!" Weiss exclaimed quietly.

"Uh, cream and five sugars!" Ruby answered hurriedly.

"Don't move," Weiss sighed and went to get the requested drink. Before she could, however, Baltazar walked to her and gave her a cup. Looking at him curiously, she accepted it and walked back to Ruby to give it to her.

"Here, courtesy of the one you think of as a brother," Weiss said with a smile.

Ruby smiled and accepted the drink, "Thanks."

Weiss then began to look apologetic, "Ruby, I'm sorry for saying you don't have what it takes to be a leader. From what I see now, you have what it takes and then some. I'll admit that I was a little upset that you were chosen as leader instead of me and thought you weren't taking it seriously because of how you were acting today." She took a quick glance at her best friend before continuing, "Baltazar explained to me why you were acting the way you were and I'm sure Yang also talked to you about your actions as well." She smiled as she saw Ruby nod, "We were both at fault here and I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for the way I acted."

Ruby's smile grew, "Thanks Weiss, and I'm sorry too."

"Apology accepted," Weiss nodded. "Listen, I have to go right now. Baltazar and I are going to do a little late night training. He wants me to be able to cast my low level glyphs without Myrtenaster so I wouldn't have to rely on it too much. Just remember that I'm going to be the best teammate you'll ever have, ok?"

Ruby beamed at her in response, "Got it!"

The heiress giggled at her leader's enthusiasm, "Good luck studying. Also, that answer's wrong. Might want to fix that." With that, Weiss began to leave the room, ignoring Baltazar's amused expression. As she reached the door, she paused and turned back a little, "And Ruby?"

"Yes?" Ruby asked.

Weiss smiled, "I always wanted bunk beds as a kid." With that she left the room.

Ruby stared at the door in surprise before looking to Baltazar for confirmation.

"She was telling the truth," Baltazar said to his fellow leader, "When we were kids, she always whined that Cody and I get bunk beds while she never gets them. I was pretty much forced to share my bed with her on the top bunk whenever she slept over so she wouldn't complain too much. You can imagine how awkward I felt for having to share a bed with a girl at the time, even if it was my best friend."

Ruby giggled at her brother figure's explanation and wished him goodnight. Baltazar wished her a good night as well and was about to close the door when he noticed something among Yang's pile of stuff.

"Huh…so that's where Ash's relic went. I better let him know about it tomorrow. The poor mate's been looking for that thing all afternoon for some reason."

Ruby giggled more as Baltazar closed the door and went back to her studying. She took a drink from the cup Weiss gave her and her eyes went wide in surprise.

"Hot chocolate?"

Ruby became confused for a moment before remembering that it was Baltazar who gave the drink to Weiss.

"I should have known. Bro knows that I don't like coffee any more than he does. I have to thank him for it later." With that in mind, Ruby went back to her studying, happy that Baltazar was looking after her and that she and Weiss are going to get along much easier now.

Author's note: When I said this will be a shorter chapter, I didn't expect it would be half the length of the last chapter. Then again, I didn't expect chapter three to be so long either…and I wrote that monster of a chapter in 3 days. I think I was possessed or something when writing that or something. Anyways, I hope you all liked this chapter. It took me a while to get it right and I had to revise and even remove some ideas in order to get it right. I'm fairly happy with how this turned out and I hope I did Ruby's and Weiss's talk with Ozpin and Port justice. Originally I had only Weiss had another person to talk with her alongside Port, but I didn't think it would have been fair on Ruby's part so I added in Yang so she could help. It was a little difficult to write because of my changes I made with Weiss, but I think I did well. Next chapter will come out after I update Life at Beacon with another idea that came in my head lately. I hope to upload it sometime tomorrow. Also, the next chapter will hopefully make JauneXPyrrha fans fairly happy. I hope you guys enjoyed your Thanksgiving and I'll see you guys again tomorrow…if I'm lucky.


	5. One Knight's Stand

Hello again, everyone. This is Black Fuego with the 5th Chapter of The BLAD of RWBY and JNPR. This chapter will covering both the Jaunedice and Forever Fall episodes, so it will be fairly long compared to the last chapter. This also marks the halfway point of the story. After this, there will be only four or five more chapters until this story is finished. While the story will be finished, Life at Beacon will still be alive along with some other stories I'm planning on working on and a sequel to this story will be made after RWBY season 2 is out. The sequel will simply be named BLAD of RWBY and JNPR: Second Verse, so be on the lookout for it when RWBY season 2 is out as well. This is also the last chapter that will use content from the RWBY episode themselves as a basis until the last chapter. This means that nearly every chapter after this will be completely original for the most part like Let Sleeping Rens Lie and Black Friday Madness from Life at Beacon are, so I hope all of you will like them Also, JaunexPyrrha fans will hopefully be happy with this chapter. I thank everyone who's enjoyed and reviewed my works so far and hope that I continue to make you all happy with them. Without further ado, here is Chapter 5!

Disclaimer: I do not own the RWBY series or any other references that I made in this story. I also don't own an awesome set of blue headphones because I was an idiot and forgot them at my parents' home when I visited them for Thanksgiving. Oh well…

"Hi" Talking  
_"Hi"_ Thinking  
_'Hi'/Hi _Memory and/or Flash Back  
'Hi' Reading  
_"__Hola__"_ Different language

The BLAD of RWBY and JNPR Chapter 5: One Knight's Stand

Jaune sat on one of the benches with a tired look on his face. It was only the first couple weeks of class and already he was starting to fall behind. Everyone around him went to different combat schools and studied all sorts of subjects to be accepted into Beacon. He on the other hand only had his father's training and the few lessons the man gave him before being practically forced to come to this school. Jaune likes the school and the friends he made in it, but he wished that the subjects they were teaching were easier. At first he thought that he should just try and do everything on his own, not wanting to burden the others because of his lack of training. However that idea faltered after accidentally listening in to a conversation his fellow leaders Baltazar and Ruby were having with a crying Wolf Faunus a couple days ago.

'_Don't be afraid to ask for help if you're in trouble, mate,' Baltazar smiled kindly, 'Believe me when I say that doing everything on your own is not the way to go. It's what I've done for most of my life until recently and I can honestly say that my life has become much easier once I decided to reach out to others.'_

'_He's right,' Ruby nodded, 'Everyone needs help every now and again. Like Bro here, I prefer to work alone as well, but I know that I can't do everything by myself so I ask for help whenever I can. Even now I'm able to do so much thanks to Bro and Sis and especially my best friend!'_

_Baltazar chuckled and gave the scythe user a pat on the head before turning to the wolf boy, 'Weiss and Levy helped me out often as kids and I would probably still be a loner if it wasn't for Yang. Don't forget about your team, too, mate. They will support you and back you up in any way they can. I hear people say all the time that asking for help is a sign of weakness. They're wrong. It takes great courage to admit one's faults and ask for assistance, so don't be afraid, mate. If you're in trouble, just ask and someone will be there for you, whether it be your teammates, a professor, or us.'_

After hearing that, Jaune began to wonder if doing everything on his own was a good idea or not. He was afraid that his friends will look down on him for asking for help, but after hearing what Ruby and Baltazar said about the subject, he began to think that going solo on his schoolwork isn't such a good idea. It was going to be a bit of a blow to his pride, but he was going to ask one of his friends to help him in his studies. The only question now is who should he ask?

"Hey Jaune, what's up?"

Luck must be in the blonde knight's favor, because the one who spoke to him was the one who gave him the idea to ask for aid in the first place. Baltazar was standing in front of him with Ruby close by, both of whom are staring at the blonde curiously.

"Are you ok, Jaune? You look kind of out of it," Ruby asked in a concerned voice.

"Is there something you need help with?" Baltazar asked politely.

Jaune looked at the pair in surprise. Here he was about to ask them for help and they went ahead and made the offer themselves.

"_I'm really lucky to have friends like them,"_ Jaune thought as he cleared his throat, "Actually you guys, I do need help with something."

Taken back slightly by the serious tone he used, the dark haired pair looked at each other for a moment before nodding and turned back to Jaune.

"What do you need, Jaune?" Ruby asked seriously.

Jaune took a deep breath and spoke, "I need help becoming a huntsman. Please, help me train."

Baltazar smiled at his friend's courage and determination and placed a hand on Jaune's shoulder. Giving the grinning Ruby a quick glance, the ninja looked at the knight in the eyes and replied, "We thought you'd never ask."

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

It's been weeks since Jaune first asked for help and while progress was slow, it was noticeable. Jaune was able to understand more of what his teachers were saying and he was able to last longer in fights and even land a few blows on his opponents. Currently he was on the auditorium facing Cardin Winchester, the leader of team CRDL, who was in his battle attire of silver armor over a black shirt and black pants, the armor having his emblem of a rising bird on it. The taller teen was looking at his opponent and laughed at his state. Jaune was also in his battle attire but was looking exhausted, leaning on Crocea Mors with a few scratches on his clothes. Cardin on the other hand looked fine aside from the few scratches on his person as well and held his mace over his shoulder. Irritated at Cardin's attitude, Jaune rushed at him and tried to slash him. Cardin managed to get out of the way, but noticed that the blonde somehow got another scratch on his armor. Irritated as well, the tall huntsman swung his mace at Jaune, who attempted to block it with his shield. Unfortunately Jaune was too slow and Cardin struck the blonde hard, causing him to fly back a little and lose his shield. Jaune barely managed to pick himself up before he charged at Cardin again, who blocked the attack with his own weapon.

"This is the part where you lose," Cardin stated smugly as their weapons clashed, towering over the exhausted knight.

Jaune glared despite being overpowered, "Over my dead-OOF!"

Jaune was cut short by a knee to the stomach courtesy of Cardin. The poor teen dropped his weapon and fall to the floor in pain, clutching his stomach. Cardin walked over to Jaune and was prepared to land the final blow on the downed teen, who still glared at the team leader defiantly when Glynda called the match.

"Cardin, that's enough!"

A little annoyed that he couldn't finish Jaune off, Cardin reluctantly moved away from him as Glynda walked on stage.

"Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's aura has now dropped into the red," Glynda gestured to the monitors above her, which showed both Jaune's and Cardin's pictures and aura meters. Cardin's meter was three quarters full and green while Jaune's was one quarter full and red, "In a tournament-styled duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle, and that the official may call the match."

Jaune sat on the floor still looking exhausted while Pyrrha looked at her teammate worriedly.

"_Jaune what happened? You're hardly ever this exhausted. In fact you've been coming back to our dorm late and tired for over a week now. What's going on?"_

Glynda also had similar thought and turned to Jaune, who was looking at his Scroll to see his aura gauge, "Mr. Arc, is there something wrong? I've notice you've been increasingly tired over the past week and while you did fine in this match in your exhausted state, I know you can do better."

Jaune looked up to the professor and gave her an apologetic smile, "Sorry Professor Goodwitch. I haven't been able to get much sleep lately. I'll be fine soon enough."

Glynda looked unsure but nodded nevertheless, "Alright Mr. Arc, if you say so. Also, please try to refer to your Scroll during combat. Gauging your aura will help you decide when it's appropriate to attack, or when it is better to move to a more...defensive strategy. We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowolf, now, would we?" The professor finished in a light tone.

"Speak for yourself…" Cardin muttered to himself.

Glynda looked to the students, "Remember, everyone, the Vytal Festival is only a few months away! And before that is Beacon's own Hunter's Festival! It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale for the Vytal Festival, so keep practicing! Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale! Also, students from the minor combat schools such as Signal and Sanctum will be on break during our Hunter's Festival this year and will be visiting, so be sure to be on your best behavior and set a good examples to those who wish to attend here!" Seeing the excited looks on the students' faces made Glynda smile at their enthusiasm.

There were many excited students who couldn't wait for the festivals to arrive. Yang was punching the air in anticipation, Weiss had her fists shaking and wore and excited smile and Ruby was practically jumping in her seat with excitement and joy. Only a few were not as enthusiastic for the festivals. One of which was Baltazar, who appeared to be fighting against sleep and loosing badly. Another was Pyrrha, who continued to look at Jaune sadly, who had his head down to his knees. Whether it was because of shame or tiredness she wasn't sure, but the red head was worried nevertheless.

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

"So, there we were, in the middle of the night…"

"It was day…"

It was lunch and Teams RWBY, JNPR and BLAD were sitting together in their normal outfits while listening to Nora telling everyone about her dream with Ren correcting her on many parts. JNPR sat on the left side of the table with Dia and Ash on their side while RWBY sat on the right side with Baltazar and Levy on their side. Everyone was paying attention to Nora with varying amounts of interest, from Yang and Dia looking at the grenadier with excitement to Blake and Weiss completely ignoring her in favor of their own interests, namely reading and nail filing. Pyrrha and Ruby were listening to Nora's dream until they noticed Jaune had a distracted look on his face and was messing with his food a little.

"But they were no match...and in the end, Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of lien selling Ursa skin rugs!" Nora finished her dream retelling excitedly.

"She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now." Ren sighed as he put his coffee cup on his palm.

Pyrrha, wanting to know what was wrong with her leader, poked him to get his attention, "Jaune? Are you ok?"

Jaune snapped out of his thoughts and looked over to Pyrrha, "Huh? Oh, yeah! Why?"

"It's just that you seemed a little…not ok…" Ruby pointed out.

The blonde leader looked at the scythe user curiously before noticing that most of his friends were listening in on the conversation, "Oh. I'm fine guys. I'm just tired because of something that I had to do with Baltazar last night and it ran a little late."

Ruby nodded in understanding, yet Pyrrha didn't believe him, "Jaune…"

"I'm not lying, Pyrrha, I swear." Jaune said before pointing to where Baltazar and Levy were sitting, "If I was, then Baltazar would be eating his pizza instead of sleeping with it and letting Ash poke him with a french fry."

Everyone turned to see that the lightning ninja was indeed sleeping next to his food, his head resting on his arms, and Ash was poking him with a small fried potato stick.

"Ash, why are you poking Chief's head with a fry?" Dia questioned her partner.

"'Cause I'm, bored..." Ash shrugged as he continued to poke. "I wonder if he's either going to hit the fry out of my hand or eat it."

"Can you stop doing that, please?" Levy asked, "He came back late last night after working on something with Jaune and his body made him wake up early again. He needs to sleep."

"No worries, Levy. I'm too tired to care," Baltazar muffled voice came tiredly, surprising everyone who thought he was asleep, "As long as he's not using a fork or something it's alright."

Even though Levy essentially confirmed Jaune's statement, Pyrrha still believed something was wrong. She was about to ask again when she noticed Jaune's attention was elsewhere. Following his gaze, she saw that he was looking at team CRDL harassing Velvet Scarlatina, a brown eyed, brown haired Rabbit Faunus with large rabbit ears who was wearing her uniform. Pyrrha shook her head at the sight before turning to Jaune, who had an irritated look on his face and was clenching his fist.

"Jaune, Cardin's been picking on you since the first week of school," Pyrrha said worriedly.

Jaune looked at his teammate in slight confusion, not paying much attention to she said, "Huh? What about Cardin?"

"He's a bully," Ruby pointed out, annoyed by the mace user's attitude.

Jaune gave Cardin a quick glance once more before replying, "Yeah, he's a bully, but it's not that bad. He could be worse."

"He made you drop your books on multiple occasions," Ren said.

"And?" Jaune asked.

"He activated your shield while you were trying to get in class two weeks ago and trapped you in the door," Blake stated.

Jaune simply shrugged his shoulders, "So?"

"The dude shoved you in a rocket locker and launched you all the way back to the temple in the Emerald Forest nearly a week ago!" Ash exclaimed, ending his fry poking fun with his leader.

"…That one was kinda fun actually," Jaune admitted, which made everyone sweat drop, "When I told Cardin that, he'd bet that I wouldn't go through it again with someone riding on the rocket locker. Easiest hundred lien I made in my life."

"Oh you got to be kidding me," Weiss groaned, "Seriously, who in the right mind thought that riding on a rocket propelled locker with someone inside it would be a good idea?"

"Woo!~ Rocket lockers are a go!" Baltazar cheered sleepily, his head raised, eyes still closed and a fist in the air. Everyone stared at the drowsy ninja in disbelief, realizing that he was the one who rode the rocket locker with Jaune, while the ninja himself went back to his previous position as if nothing ever happened.

Weiss's scared eye was twitching as she stared at her best friend, "You enjoy flying way too much sometimes…"

"Jaune, you know that if you ever need help, you can just ask," Pyrrha said in a soft tone.

"Ohhh! We'll break his legs!" Nora voiced out with a manic grin on her face.

"I'm in!" Yang cheered with a vicious grin as well.

"Dib's on the right one!" Ash exclaimed and raised his hand.

Even the resting Baltazar was ok with it, giving a thumbs up to the leg breaking trio in approval.

Jaune tried to calm his friends down before they could cause trouble, "Guys, really, its fine! Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me; he's a jerk to everyone."

The three teams admit that Cardin was indeed a jerk to almost everyone he meet, especially the Faunus. As if proving his point, the group heard more laughter from CRDL's table and turned to see Cardin himself was pulling Velvet's ears as she was trying to escape. Thankfully she was able to get away, but the torment Cardin and his team put her through was too much and she ran out of the cafeteria, hiding her face from others.

"Atrocious. I can't stand people like him," Pyrrha growled.

"Same here, Nicky. Same here…" Ash grumbled.

"He's not the only one," Blake said venomously, glaring daggers at the team of bullies.

"I feel ashamed that there are people like him working for my dad and are even related to us," Weiss muttered to herself, looking down sadly.

"It must be hard being a Faunus…" Yang said quietly, upset with how the Faunus are treated in their world.

Baltazar growled softly to himself, angry at Cardin's treatment towards Velvet and the other Faunus students.

With their moods down, the three teams got up and left the cafeteria in order to get ready for class and to get away from Cardin. None of them noticed that Cardin was watching them, Jaune in particular, with a sinister look on his face.

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

It was the last class of the day and Jaune was seen resting his head on his hand. He, along with the rest of his team, Blake, Weiss, Baltazar, Ash, and even Velvet and Cardin were all in Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck's Vytal History class among other students. Dr. Oobleck is a younger man in comparison to Professor Port with messy green hair and brown eyes, a white shirt half tucked into dark green pants with his collar raised, a slack yellow tie, along with mismatched brown and black shoes and round glasses. The doctor was seen zooming around the class with a cup of coffee in hand explaining to his students about The Faunus War.

"This is prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution, more popularly known as The Faunus War!" The high speed doctor zoomed to his messy desk and pointed at the map behind it, "Humankind was quite, quite adamant about centralizing Faunus population in Menagerie." He took a sip of coffee and zoomed to the center of the class, "Now! While this must feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events! Why, the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day! Now! Have any among you been subjugated or discriminated because of your Faunus heritage?"

Many students raised their hands in response. One of which was Velvet, although timidly.

Oobleck shook his head sadly, "Dreadful, simply dreadful! Remember, students, it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence! I mean, I mean, I mean just look at what happened to White Fang! Now, which one of you young scallions can tell me what many theorize to be the turning point in the third year of the War?" He saw a hand rose, "Yes?"

"The battle at Fort Castle!" Weiss answered confidently.

Oobleck smiled, "Precisely, Ms. Schnee. Now would you be so kind as to wake up your boyfriend? I don't want him to miss any of this."

Weiss stared at the instructor in confusion, "Boyfriend? What are…?" She turned her head and noticed that Baltazar was sleeping again and somehow managed to grab her arm when she wasn't noticing and was using it as a pillow.

The heiress blushed brightly in embarrassment and many students began laughing at the sight. "B-B-Baltazar! W-What are you doing, you twit! Let go of my arm this instant!"

"No…" the sleepy leader muttered and began to snuggle with his best friend's arm, causing her to blush brighter, "My Weiss Pillow…"

The class began to roar with laughter again as soon as they heard the comment. Oobleck shook his head in amusement as he watched the pair's antics.

"And to think that boy is one of my best students in this class…" the green haired teacher chuckled a little before clearing his throat, "Alright, class, settle down! Now, who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune's forces?"

It was at this moment that Cardin decided to have a little fun and flicked a paper football at Jaune's head. The piece of paper hit Jaune, disturbing his rest and annoying him as well. "Hey!"

"Mr. Arc!" Oobleck called cheerfully, zooming into the startled blonde's face, "Finally contributing to class! This is excellent! Excellent! What is the answer?"

"Uhh…" Jaune started as he thought of what the answer was, _"What was the advantage that the Faunus had again? I think I remember going over this with Ruby a couple days ago…something that had to do with the night?"_

As Jaune continued to think, he noticed that Pyrrha was gesturing over to him, pointing at her eyes for some reason. After a few seconds the answer came into his mind.

"Uh…was it night vision?"

"Correct, Mr. Arc!" The teacher exclaimed happily as he zoomed back to the center of the class, "I am delighted to know that even some of my less involved students have taken time to learn the material and are able to answer my questions!"

"Feh, lucky guess…" Cardin scoffed quietly. Unfortunately he was heard by Oobleck and the hyperactive doctor raised an eyebrow at his student's attitude.

"Really, Cardin? Perhaps you would care to share what you believed was the right answer."

"Well, I thought it was because they were simple to train. I know it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier," Cardin shrugged, not really caring about what he said.

His answer made many of his classmates look at him with disgust. Even Oobleck shook his head in disappointment.

"Wow, mate. You really need to learn to watch what you say in class…" Baltazar commented dryly, fully awake now thanks to a smack to the head from his best friend earlier.

"I agree," Pyrrha nodded before glaring at Cardin, "You're not the most open-minded of individuals, are you, Cardin?"

The mace user glared back at the rifle/spear user, "What? You got a problem."

Pyrrha shook her head "No, just the reason why Jaune's answer was right. It's night vision because Faunus are known to have nearly perfect sight in the dark."

Blake nodded and added to the explanation, "General Lagune was inexperienced, and made the mistake of trying to ambush the Faunus in their sleep. His massive army was outmatched, and the general was captured." She turned to Cardin with a glare of her own, "Perhaps if he'd paid attention in class, he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure."

"I doubt it would have made any difference though," Ash said while pointing at the infuriated leader. "The dude would've probably skipped the material like Captain No-Tact over there did."

"Ok, that's it!" Cardin roared as he began to get up from his seat, "You are all so-"

"Mr. Winchester! Please take your seat!" Oobleck ordered, "You will see me after class for additional readings."

Cardin growled but did as he was ordered, ignoring the looks on many of his classmates' faces.

Oobleck nodded before zooming around the class again, "Now! Moving on!"

The rest of the class passed without incident and soon enough it was over. Everyone began to leave while Cardin was forced to remain inside to talk with the instructor. Team JNPR walked out of class together when Pyrrha called out to Jaune.

"Hey Jaune?" Pyrrha asked, "Can I talk to for a minute? In private?"

Jaune looked at his teammate curiously before responding, "Um…sure Pyrrha. You know a place where we could talk?"

Pyrrha smiled and nodded, "I do. Come with me."

A few minutes later the two found themselves on the roof of their dorm, with the stars shining. Jaune was looking over the edge as Pyrrha closed the door behind them.

"Uh…Pyrrha? I said I was tired, not depressed," Jaune stated, gaining a confused look from his teammate, "Besides, even if I was, I don't think I'd be able to pull off something like this…unlike a couple people I know."

"What?" Pyrrha continued to stare at Jaune in confusion before she connected the dots and ran towards her leader and dragged him away from the ledge. After calming herself from that small fright, she spoke, "Look, Jaune. I just want to talk to you about a few things."

"Like what?" Jaune asked.

"Mainly about why you've been coming home so late and tired for the past week," Pyrrha explained, "But before that I just want to say I'm proud of you."

Jaune became confused, "Proud of me? For what?"

"For doing so well in your classes," Pyrrha smiled, "I know you had a hard time when you first started, but I've noticed that you've been improving so much over the past few weeks. You've managed to do some damage to Cardin despite your exhausted stated and even managed to answer one of Dr. Oobleck's questions even though you weren't really prepared for it."

"Well I do have to thank you for the last part, Pyrrha," Jaune said sheepishly, "I probably would of gotten the answer wrong if it wasn't for your hint. As for my improvement, well…at first I was going to try and do everything on my own. I would have, too, if I didn't hear Baltazar and Ruby talking to a crying Wolf Faunus about how important it is to get help and how it isn't really a weakness to ask. It made me realize that if I tried to go at this on my own, then I won't be able to be the kind of huntsman or leader our team needs. I decided to ask them to help me become a better huntsman and I have to say, that was the best decision I ever made."

Pyrrha smiled brightly after listening to Jaune speak. She was afraid that Jaune would be struggling in the school because of his lack of skill and knowledge compared to everyone else, but he managed to sought out help early on and was on his way to becoming the type of huntsman and leader she knew he could be.

"That was brave of you, Jaune. Not many people I know are able to admit their faults so easily and seek help so early on. I'm happy to see that you've done so much to improve yourself. You're turning into a fine huntsman, just like I knew you would."

Jaune blushed and gave his partner a small smile. "Thanks, Pyrrha. I appreciate it."

The red head nodded before she came to a realization, "Hold on. You said that you've been with Ruby and Baltazar so that they could help you in your studies. Does this mean that…?"

"Yeah," Jaune interrupted, knowing what she was thinking, "This past week I've been with Baltazar and Ruby working on a little project and it's what's been making me come back so late. I can't really say what it is yet, but you'll find out soon enough. Ruby usually falls asleep a couple hours before we finish for the night so Baltazar has to take her back to her room and put her to bed before he and I could continue. It's actually kind of cute seeing him and Yang tucking her in and wishing her good night."

Pyrrha giggled, actually seeing Ruby being tucked into bed by her brother figure while her sister read her a bedtime story in her head. After she finished, she began to frown as another thought occurred to her.

"Wait a minute…" She began, "Jaune, if you were willing to go to your fellow leaders for help, why haven't you asked us for help also? You know you could have come to your team if there was anything wrong."

"I didn't want to burden you or the others," Jaune admitted, "You guys already do so much and I don't want to bother you guys any more that I already do with our occasional study groups. Baltazar and Ruby are already going out of their way to help me and I don't want anyone else sacrificing their time for me."

"But we're a team, Jaune," Pyrrha argued, "We're supposed to overcome our shortcomings together. By going to others for help, even if they're our friends, it shows that you don't really trust us. At least it does to me."

"I trust you and the others with my life don't ever think otherwise," Jaune said sternly, "Also, are you saying that I should stop getting help form my friends because you're not part of it?"

"No, Jaune, that's not what I'm saying at all!" Pyrrha insisted.

"That's what you're implying," Jaune glared.

"It's not, Jaune. I swear," Pyrrha reassured, "I merely wish to help you with your training."

"I'm doing fine, Pyrrha, don't worry about it," Jaune said, making Pyrrha frown deeper, "The help I'm getting now is more than enough and I don't want you to waste your time on me anymore than you have to." He then looked down at the floor sadly, "I have to work hard in order to be the kind of leader you guys need, especially since I don't really belong here."

Pyrrha became confused and worried at the last comment, "What? What are you talking about Jaune? Of course you belong here!"

"Not really, Pyrrha…" Jaune shook his head sadly, "I told you that I trained with Dad before coming here, but that's all that I did. I never went to combat school and Dad never told me everything that's required to be a huntsman. He never even activated my aura like you did back at the forest. *_sigh_* Dad thought that a large jump in difficulty would help me become a better huntsman so he pulled some strings and got me into Beacon with little knowledge, not much skill and inactive aura." He began to chuckle humorlessly, "And you know what? If Dad didn't sent me here himself and I was more adamant in becoming a huntsman and hero like him and my ancestors, I probably would have snuck into the academy myself. I found some fake transcripts a while back and I could have used them to fake my way into Beacon."

Pyrrha looked at her leader in shock, surprised by how unprepared he was and the fact that his own father sent him here knowing he wasn't ready. "Why did your father sent you here so unprepared? Did he even care about what would have happened to you?"

"Dad's a 'leap before you think' type of guy," Jaune explained, "He believes that the best way to gain experience is to take things head on without being really prepared."

"That's still wrong though…" Pyrrha muttered, not really liking the way Jaune's father saw things in life. "Still, I think I should help you out sometime. I just-"

"I said no, Pyrrha!" Jaune exclaimed, making his partner jump, "I'm telling you that I don't need any more help! I'm ok with just Baltazar and Ruby helping me out, I don't need anyone else to join in!" Before he could yell anymore, he took a breath and calmed down, "You and the others already do enough for yourselves and I don't want you guys to get sidetracked because of me. I'll be fine, Pyrrha. Don't worry about me."

Pyrrha had a hurt look in her eyes as Jaune turned away from her. She knew he'd be alright, but all she wanted was to help him, to be closer to him. Jaune was one of the first people who she met that didn't really know her. For most of her life she had to deal with all sorts of people who only liked her because she was strong and famous. Those people will often lie about themselves in an attempt to get to know her, but they never worked on her. Jaune was different though. He had no idea who she was and was honest about it too. He attempted to befriend her because he wanted to know Pyrrha the person, not Pyrrha the super athlete. She was very happy to be able to partner up with him and even more so when he allowed her to activate his aura. Pyrrha saw an untold amount of potential in Jaune and wanted him to reach it. She was even more excited when she was assigned to be in his team with him as the leader. As she said before, Jaune will make a great leader.

She won't deny that she's happy that Jaune is getting help in his studies, but it hurt to know that he never went to his team first. Sure they had their little study sessions every now and then, but it still hurt that Jaune never went to them, to her, for assistance. Pyrrha admits that she has a crush on Jaune and can't deny that she wants to be closer to him and know him more. The sad thing was that she did end up knowing more about him, but not in the way she wanted. Jaune is the type of guy that will do whatever it takes to make his team happy and safe, but this is ridiculous. While he was getting the help he needs, he's getting it without his team so that they wouldn't have to worry about him, inadvertently pushing them away. It made Pyrrha think that he didn't trust his team while in reality Jaune didn't want to burden his team. Even though Pyrrha now understands Jaune's reasoning to go to others for help, it didn't made her feel any better. She wanted to let him know that she will be there for him no matter what, whether as his partner, friend or hopefully even more. She walked up to him to talk again, but she was interrupted by Jaune.

"Stop, Pyrrha. I told you I'll be fine. Just leave me alone for a while, ok?"

Pyrrha dropped her head and responded sadly, "If that's what you want…" She left Jaune alone on the roof with a depressed look on her face.

Jaune let out a sad sigh as Pyrrha left. He didn't want to make her upset, but he didn't want her to go through all the trouble in helping him while she's already has enough on her plate and has done so much for him already by just being there with him. At first Jaune thought Ozpin made a mistake and that Pyrrha should be the leader, but when he confronted the headmaster about it, Ozpin told him that while he made many mistakes in the past, he didn't believe that making Jaune the leader was one of them. What shocked Jaune was that the headmaster told him he had the very same conversation with Ruby on the first day of classes. Having no real choice in the matter, Jaune stayed as leader and eventually sought out help in the forms of Ruby and Baltazar. The two, like Pyrrha, suggested that his team should also join in, but Jaune didn't want to bother them and was quite adamant with that decision. They were reluctant, but they agreed with Jaune's choice. At first it was working out well, Jaune was improving in his studies and his team can continue with their own things without having to worrying about their leader. Now though, he's beginning to have doubts with this plan similarly to his original plan to do his studies alone.

"…I messed up, didn't I?" Jaune muttered to himself, looking down to the floor.

"Hehe…that you did, Jaune."

Jaune's head snapped up and turned to see Cardin jumping on to the roof and walking towards him.

"Cardin? What are you doing here?" Jaune questioned the bully.

"My room's just below here." Cardin said, pointing to the edge of the roof. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with your teammate." He walked up and placed an arm over the confused blonde, "I got to say, I had no idea that you have the potential to be such a rebel."

Jaune raised an eyebrow, "Rebel? What are you talking about?"

Cardin smirked, "You know; those fake transcripts you have. If your old man didn't get you in here, you'd use those transcripts to sneak your way in here, would you?"

"…Maybe," Jaune admitted, feeling a little uncomfortable.

Cardin laughed and slapped Jaune's back hard, causing him to stumble a little. The taller teen then began to walk around Jaune. "I thought so. You know…I wonder what would happen if the school ever figured out that you cheated your way into Beacon."

Jaune stared at him in shock, "What! I didn't cheat!"

"Oh really?" Cardin asked with a devious smirk and pulled out his Scroll. "Well I have something that says otherwise." He then pressed a button and, to Jaune's surprise, his voice began playing from the Scroll.

"I don't belong here. I snuck into the academy. I found some fake transcripts a while back and I used them to fake my way to Beacon."

"What!" Jaune screamed, "I never said that! How did you do that?"

"Just messed around with a recording I made of your little talk with your 'girlfriend'," Cardin answered smugly. "Now, what will happen if I played it to our classmates, the teachers, or even the headmaster?"

Jaune flinched and began to think of worst case scenarios if Cardin ever released that recording to his classmates or the professors.

"Now now, Jaune, just relax," Cardin smirked, amused by Jaune's reaction, "I would never rat out a friend."

The voice of CRDL's leader snapped Jaune out of his thoughts, "Friend?"

"Of course!" Cardin smiled and grabbed the blonde in a headlock, "We're friends now, Jauney Boy! And the way I see it, as long as you're there for me when I need you, we'll be friends for a long time." He let go of Jaune and stood in front of him, "That being said, I really don't have time to do those extra readings Dr. Oobleck gave us today. Think you could take care of that for me, buddy?"

Jaune stared at the tall teen in slight surprise. He couldn't believe that he was being blackmailed by Cardin with something he didn't even do. He began to worry about his future until he remembered something Ruby told him a while back.

'_You have to remember to always try to remain calm, no matter what situation you're in. If you're calm, you'll be able to find the answers for the problem you're in much easier most of the time. It helps me out whenever I have to fight multiple people at once, and I know it will help you when you're in a tight spot.'_

With that in mind, Jaune attempted to calm himself down and think about his situation. After calming himself, he began to realize a flaw in Cardin plan.

"No, Cardin. I won't," Jaune muttered.

Cardin began to get angry, "What did you say?"

"Your plan won't work," Jaune explained, "Professor Ozpin and the other instructors already knows about how I came here. While it may work on our classmates, it won't work on them. In fact, you'll get in trouble yourself because of what you're planning to do."

Cardin gritted his teeth in frustration. Jaune pointed out a flaw in his plan that he wasn't aware of. If he went through with it, Jaune will gain a bad rap with their classmates, but the teachers will suspect something because know that he came here legitimately. Unprepared, but legitimately nevertheless. He wouldn't be expelled, but no one would be able to be trusted by anyone other than his team and friends. Not only that, he would get in huge trouble himself with the teachers if they manage to find out he was the one who tried to get him expelled.

"I am willing to compromise, though."

Cardin looked at Jaune curiously, "What?"

"While I don't really care what will happen to my reputation if you let that recording go, I'm not willing to let my team suffer the backlash that I'll get if you go along with your plan. They don't deserve that," Jaune stated, "And what's stopping me form letting the teachers know about your attempt to expel me?"

Cardin glared at Jaune, "…So what's your compromise?"

"You don't show your recording to anyone and tone down on your bullying and I won't tell anyone about your plan and help you out in your studies occasionally," Jaune offered.

Cardin became confused, "You're not going to make me delete the recording?"

"You probably made copies of it or something from your teammate's Scrolls and know how to make it look like you deleted it but didn't, so it wouldn't work," Jaune pointed out, which made Cardin flinch, confirming his suspicion. "So, we have a deal?"

Cardin growled as he weighed his options. After a few moments he gave Jaune his answer, "Fine."

"Good," Jaune nodded and began to leave, "If you want, I'll help you with those extra readings Dr. Oobleck assigned to you."

Cardin sighed and followed Jaune, "Yeah, whatever."

As the two left, neither have noticed a shadow on the highest point of the roof over the door, before it disappeared in a dark blur.

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

It's been just over a week since Jaune's confrontation with Cardin and the blonde teen still returns to his team's dorm late. Pyrrha looks out the window sadly as Ren polishes his Storm Flower pistols and Nora is jumping on her bed.

"Why has Jaune been coming back late for over two weeks now?" Nora asked as she continued to jump on her bed.

"He has been more scarce lately since he started fraternizing with Cardin somewhat." Ren stated.

"That's weird..." Nora wondered, "Doesn't he know we have a field trip tomorrow? We need our rest!" She finished as she landed on her bed on her.

"I'm sure our leader knows exactly what he's doing," Pyrrha muttered somewhat angrily as she got up to go to bed.

Ren and Nora gave each other worried glances and wondered what happened between their teammates while, unbeknownst to them, Jaune was checking on his team through a small crack on the door.

"Hmm…I guess so," Nora said as she and Ren prepare to get ready for bed also.

With a sad sigh, Jaune closed the door and hung his head in depression, ashamed with how he's been treating his team lately.

"Hey, Jaune! Long time, no see!"

Jaune jumped a little and saw Ruby in her pajamas smiling at him.

"Did you lock yourself out again?" The dark haired girl asked jokingly.

"That only happened once, Ruby," Jaune grumbled as he showed her the key to his room, his Scroll.

Ruby snickered, "Oh come on Jaune it was funny. It reminded me of when Bro accidentally locked himself out of his house a couple times during the summer and had to break into his own home."

Jaune chuckled lightly, "I bet he had a lot of fun explaining to the police why he broke into his own home."

Ruby laughed a little and nodded her head, "So! Where have you been lately?"

"I…" Jaune began, but then started remembering what happened recently and became depressed again, "I messed up." He sat on the floor and continued, "I said some things I shouldn't have and now I'm in this deal with Cardin, and Pyrrha won't talk to me, and to top it all, the project that you, me and Baltazar are working on is on hold because I kept screwing up and accidently used up all the materials before we finished!" He sighs sadly and sits down on the floor, "I'm starting to think coming here was a bad idea. I'm a failure…"

"Nope," Ruby said cheerfully.

Jaune looked up at the young girl in surprise, "Nope?"

"Nope!" Ruby repeated, "You're a leader, Jaune. You're not allowed to be a failure."

Jaune looked at the scythe user questionably, "But…what if I'm a failure at being a leader?"

"Nope!" Ruby repeated again and went to sit down next to the swordsman.

Jaune laughed lightly at Ruby's repetitiveness, "You know, you're not the easiest person to talk to about this kind of stuff."

"Nope!" Ruby grinned before becoming serious, "Jaune, maybe you were a failure when you were a kid, and you might've even been a failure the first day we met, and it was possible that you were a failure when Baltazar and I first started helping you! But you can't be a failure now. You know why?"

Jaune, who became more depressed whenever his friend called him a failure, looked at her questionably as he thought of an answer, "Uhhh, because…?

"Because it's not about you anymore," Ruby answered, "You've got a team now, Jaune. You, Bro, and I do! And if we fail, then we'll just be bringing them down with us. I didn't want to say this before, but your reason for training was a bit selfish, especially since you didn't want your teammates knowing about it." She picked herself up and looked down at her friend with her hands on her hips, "It's what Bro told you before, we have to put our teammates first, and ourselves second. Your team deserves a great leader, Jaune. And we think that can be you."

Jaune smiled at his friend and was about to say something when his Scroll began to beep. He opened it and sighed as read the message.

"Who's that?" Ruby asked.

"It's Cardin," Jaune groaned, "He asked me where he could find Rapier Wasps with large stingers for a project he's working on."

"What project is that?" Ruby wondered, trying to remember a class that required students to study the wasps.

"Not a clue. We already had to do a report on them last week. Must be for a class he's in that we don't have," Jaune answered as he sent his reply. He got up and was about to wish Ruby goodnight when his Scroll went off again. What got him curious was that Ruby's Scroll was going off as well. The two opened their Scrolls and hear the familiar voice of Baltazar coming out of them.

"I have everything we need. Come to our usual spot quickly and we should finally be able to finish this before curfew. See you soon and be safe."

The two began to smile brightly at the thought of finally being able to finish their little personal project, especially Jaune.

"You head out first, I'm going to change," Ruby said. Jaune nodded and ran out of the dorms to meet up with Baltazar and finish what they started two weeks ago.

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

It was the next day and teams RWBY, JNPR, CRDL, and BLAD were following Professor Goodwitch through the Forever Fall forest for their field trip.

"Yes, students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But we are not here to sight-see. Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so." Glynda explained to her students, "Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap. However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here by 4 o'clock. Have fun!" With that Glynda went further ahead, not aware of the annoyed looks on Baltazar's and Ash's faces.

"_You try having fun in a place where you were nearly killed by a pack of Beowolves or were chased towards a cliff by a swarm of Rapier Wasps," _The two thought bitterly, remembering their past experiences in the Forever Fall forest.

Soon enough, everyone began collecting sap from the trees surrounding them. There were not many issues with the sap collecting…except for a few things.

"Nora, will you stop drinking the sap?" Ren asked exasperatedly.

"But it's so good and sweet, Ren!" Nora smiled with sap covering her entire mouth.

Baltazar looked at Nora curiously before turning to his own jar of sap. He was about to follow the bubbly bomber's example when someone stopped him.

"Don't even think about it," Weiss warned and walked up to him, "I have no idea how much sugar there is in this sap but I'm not taking any chances."

"Oh come on, Weiss. Not even a sip?" Baltazar asked.

"No," Weiss said sternly, "I do not want to deal with a sugar rush version of my best friend again. Do you have any idea how hard it was to get you to calm down the last time that happened?"

"Oh come on Weiss, I wasn't that bad," The stealth expert scoffed.

"You were literally bouncing off the walls of your paternal grandparents' home and nearly destroyed their kitchen after eating half a dozen frosted sugar cookies!" The glyph caster shouted.

"But I'm fine now," Baltazar reassured, "I can easily eat a dozen of those cookies before getting too hyper, so don't worry too much, ok?"

"I said no!" Weiss glared.

"_They're not even dating yet and they're already acting like a married couple like Mr. and Mrs. Azul,"_ Ruby thought in amusement as she watched her partner and brother argue with one another. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of light groaning and turned to see Jaune nearby with a full jar of sap and not looking so well.

"Jaune, are you ok?" Ruby asked.

"I think I'm allergic to this stuff," Jaune answered, "I'm going to go clear my head. Mind holding on to my sap for me?"

Ruby nodded and took Jaune's sap. He thanked her and went off to find a clearing or something to help clear his head a little. As he walked he heard some voices from the hilltop close to where the others were. He walked there and noticed that team CRDL was laying on the edge with a jar of sap nearby and a box with the letter W on it that seemed to be rumbling a little. He snuck up closer to them and started to listen in on what they were saying.

"That's the girl. Red haired know-it-all, thinks she's so smart," Cardin mocked and brought out the box, "Alright, boys…last night, old Jaune managed to tell me where to find a whole mess of Rapier Wasps, and now, were gonna put them to work. Now, according to one of the essays he helped me with last week, these nasty things love sweets. I'm thinking it's time we teach her a thing or two."

"But what if Jaune finds out?" Sky Lark, the blue haired member of the team, asked.

"He won't," Cardin assured, "I promised I tone down on bullying but what I'm doing is revenge, something completely different. I'm still following the terms of our agreement, and since I never told him about our plan, he'll be completely clueless."

Jaune became angry. Cardin and his team were planning to use the Rapier Wasps to hurt Pyrrha and the worst part was that Jaune was an accomplice. He saw Cardin getting ready to throw the jar and, without thinking, ran towards the tall teen and snatched the jar.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Cardin shouted.

"'What am I doing'? What are you doing?!" Jaune countered, "You were going to use those Rapier Wasps to seriously hurt Pyrrha!"

"It's still within our deal, Jaune," Cardin argued, "You said that-"

"I don't care what I said!" Jaune yelled, "The moment you tried to hurt my partner was the moment you broke the deal."

"Now Jaune," Cardin said calmly, "Don't be too hasty. You don't want a certain recording to be played for the entire school to hear, don't you?"

"I. don't. Care!" Jaune, in his anger, threw the jar at Cardin.

The taller teen looked at his sap covered armor in shock before glaring furiously at Jaune, "Oh you've done t now…" He ordered his teammates to grab Jaune and the group walked to a more remote clearing where Cardin began to attack Jaune repeatedly, with Jaune not even attempting to defend himself.

You know that wasn't very smart, Jauney Boy." Cardin sneered as he held a bruised Jaune, "I'm gonna make sure they send you back to mommy in teeny tiny pieces."

"I don't care what you do to me…" Jaune said and glared at Cardin in fury, "But you are not messing with my team."

Cardin became shock for a moment before becoming even angrier, "What? You think talk like that makes you tough? You think you're a big strong man now?"

Jaune simply smiled defiantly, infuriating Cardin even more. With an angry roar, Cardin fired one more punch to Jaune's face when a white glow suddenly appeared from Jaune. Cardin let go of his captive and held his hand, which felt like it hit a hard shield or something. Jaune, on the other hand, looked completely healed and stared at his own arms and noticed a white shimmer going through them before Lark kicked him in the back. He begins to pick himself up, but noticed Cardin approaching him and glared.

"Let's see how much of a man you really are…" Cardin growled.

Before he could do anything, however, the five of them began hearing noises, a dark growl to be exact. Turning to the source of the sound, they were surprised and frightened to see a large Ursa Grimm with large jagged spikes coming out of its back; the Ursa Major. The giant bear Grimm sniffed the air and looked at Cardin, attracted to the sap on his armor. It roars at the group, causing everyone to run away from the beast except for Cardin and Jaune. The beast made its way to Cardin and struck him with its claws, sending it flying. It ignored the cowering Jaune and walked to wear Cardin landed, who brought out his mace to defend himself. Sadly, the beast knocked the weapon out of his hands easily and landed by Jaune's feet, who had a conflicted look on his face.

While this was happening, the other teams were still collecting sap, completely unaware of what was going on with their friend until Pyrrha noticed he was missing.

"Where's Jaune?" Pyrrha asked.

"He went out to clear his head," Ruby explained, "Apparently he's allergic to the sap and wanted to get away from it for a little while."

Pyrrha was about to say something when she noticed Baltazar looking at a certain direction with a serious look on his face, "What is it?"

"I sensed Jaune's aura just now," Baltazar answered, making Pyrrha worried, "I felt a large, protective wave of energy just now. It was a larger release than when his aura was first unlocked. Something must have happened."

As if agreeing with his statement, everyone heard a ferocious roar from the other side of the forest.

"Oh, why does the bad stuff always happen in this forest?" Ash groaned.

Shortly after the roar was heard, team CRDL came running towards them without their leader, shouting about an Ursa. One of them, the mohawk haired Russel Thrush, ran into Yang, who picked him up and demanded where the Ursa was.

He pointed at the direction he was running from, "Back there! It has Cardin!"

Baltazar began to pale as he looked to the direction the bully was pointing at, "That's where I felt Jaune's aura go off!"

"Jaune!" Pyrrha shouted in worry.

Ruby became serious and turned to her sister, who dropped Russel after a while, "Yang! You and Blake, go get Professor Goodwitch!"

"Ash, Dia!" Baltazar called out, "You guys go after Cardin's team and make them tell you what happened before the Ursa attacked!"

"Ren, you go with Ruby's teammates while you go with Baltazar's teammates, Nora!" Pyrrha ordered as she, Ruby and Baltazar brought out their weapons, "Be careful! There could be more!"

With that the three of them, along with Weiss and Levy, ran towards the direction of the Grimm, and were surprise to see Cardin trying to run away from the Ursa Major, only for the monster to hit him once more. Cardin makes an attempt to crawl away but the monster was right over him and was about to strike.

Pyrrha gasped as she saw what was about to happen, "Oh no!"

Before the giant Ursa could finish Cardin off, Jaune appeared and blocked the blow with his shield. He was struggling a little however, as the giant Grimm was much stronger than he anticipated. Weiss and Levy were about to go in and help when they were stopped by Pyrrha and Baltazar.

"Wait," Pyrrha said.

"Let him do this," Baltazar spoke softly.

Jaune manages to get the Ursa's paw off his shield and slashes the beast's stomach. Angry by the assault, the beast charged at Jaune and attempted to strike him, only for the blonde knight to jump over the attack. However he wasn't able to defend himself from the Ursa's other attack and was sent flying quite a ways. He manages to pick himself up and attempts to strike the beast with a leaping attack. He jumped too soon, however, and wound up being struck again. Jaune picked himself up again and noticed that his aura levels are low again thanks to the Scroll he had in his shield. Looking at the beast angrily, he charged at it one more time in hopes of finishing it off quickly.

Pyrrha noticed that, while Jaune was raising his shield up in order to block the oncoming attack, he wasn't moving it fast enough. Thinking quickly, she channeled some aura into her hand and lifts it out to her leader. Suddenly Pyrrha's aura began surrounding Jaune's shield and it helped Jaune move it fast enough to block the attack and lean on the ground. Thinking fast, Jaune pushed the claw away from his shield and successfully manages to decapitate the Grimm, giving him the win.

Ruby looked at Pyrrha in confusion as the red-head set her hand down, "…What?"

Weiss also looked at Pyrrha in amazement, "How did you…"

"Well," Pyrrha explained, "Ruby has her speed, Levy has her healing, Baltazar has his stealth and you have your glyphs. My Semblance is Polarity."

"Whoa…you can control poles," Ruby muttered in awe.

Levy giggled at the young girl's naivety, "No, Ruby, she means she has control over magnetism."

"Magnets are cool too…" Ruby said quietly, amazement still in her voice.

"_Polarity, eh?" _Baltazar thought to himself, _"Her aura felt different from Cody's Polarity…must be a variant of it. It's rare to find different versions of the same semblance like that. The most common semblance that has different variations of it is the Glyph Semblance. Interesting…" _He was brought of his thoughts when he noticed Pyrrha already leaving, "Heading back so soon?"

Levy became confused at her friend's action, "Shouldn't we tell them what happened?"

"We could," Pyrrha began before smiling softly, "Or we could keep it our little secret."

As the polarity user walked away, the others smiled to themselves in understanding and looked over to Jaune, who was battered and bruised, sheathing Crocea Mors and walking up to Cardin. He held his hand to the beaten mace user, who accepted it gratefully.

"Holy crap, Jaune!" Cardin said in amazement.

Jaune on the other hand glared at the tall teen dead in the eye and spoke in his most threatening voice, "Don't ever mess with my team, my friends, ever again. Got it?"

Cardin nodded both in fear and remorse. Satisfied that he got his point across, Jaune turned to head back to his friends, leaving Cardin to lament on his actions. As Cardin stood there alone he didn't notice the same shadow that was on the roof watching him. It looked down and noticed a small, white, rectangular object on the ground and picked it up, before disappearing into the forest.

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

It was late at night and Jaune was on the roof in his uniform again, looking at the many lights that illuminated Beacon.

"No Ruby, Baltazar or Cardin tonight?" Pyrrha asked as she walked up and stood next to him.

Jaune shook his head and turned to Pyrrha with an apologetic look on his face, "Pyrrha...I'm sorry. I was a jerk! You were only trying to be nice, and...I was being stubborn about accepting any more help and-"

"Jaune! It's ok," Pyrrha reassured with a smile, causing Jaune to smile as well, "Your team really misses their leader, you know." She turned around and began to walk to the exit, "You should come down! Ren made pancakes!~ No syrup, though, you can thank Nora for that!"

Jaune smiled again before remembering something. Feeling his pockets, he called out to his partner, "Pyrrha, wait. There are a couple things I want to talk to you about first."

Pyrrha turned around and walked back to Jaune with a curious look in her eyes.

Jaune took a deep breath and began to speak, "I know I don't deserve it after all that happened, and I didn't listen when Baltazar and Ruby suggested it, but...would you still be willing to help me...to help me become a better fighter?"

Pyrrha looked shocked for a moment and turned around, so Jaune wouldn't see the elated look on her face. After calming down, she turned back to Jaune, walked over to him and pushed him to the floor.

"Hey!" Jaune whined.

"Your stance is all wrong," Pyrrha explained in a lecturer's tone, "You need to be wider and lower to the ground." She then grinned and offered her hand to Jaune, who graciously accepted it, "I would have thought that Baltazar or Ruby covered this already."

Jaune chuckled lightly, "I might've forgotten that lesson."

Pyrrha giggled as well, "So what's the other thing you wanted to talk about?"

Jaune stared at Pyrrha for a moment before he blushed lightly and reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box and handed it to the equally blushing red head.

"Open it," Jaune whispered nervously.

Pyrrha obeyed and gasped in shock. Inside the box was a small gold ring with an emerald gem in the center. Engraved on the ring were the emblems of her team and her own name inside the ring. She began to tear up and looked at Jaune, who still had a nervous look on his face.

"It's beautiful, Jaune," Pyrrha whispered happily, "Where did you get this?"

"…I made it," Jaune admitted, shocking Pyrrha greatly, "One of the lessons that Baltazar and Ruby were so eager to teach me was forging. The two went into a lot of detail in that subject and Baltazar said that forging was not just limited to weapons. There are other things that could be forged, but they usually have different names for them, like weapon forging is called blacksmithing. He also told me that he was the one who made Weiss's necklace and that gave me the idea of making something like that for you."

"Amazing…" Pyrrha muttered, "So the project you three were working on…"

"It was the ring," Jaune confirmed, "At least, that's what I was focusing on. You see, Pyrrha, that ring is different from other rings because it has a bit of my aura in it. All you have to do is send a small bit of yours into the ring and it will tell me where you are." As a demonstration, Jaune lightly put his hand on the ring and channeled a little aura in it, causing it to glow white for a few moments before the glow faded, "It's how Baltazar always knows where Weiss is whenever he needs to find her, because her necklace is also a special tracker made by him in order to help her when she's in trouble. I focused on your ring while he and Ruby worked on objects similar to it for their teams. The also told me that they'd make the trackers for Ren and Nora for me so long as I work hard on yours. I actually finished it last night, so I don't have to come home late anymore."

Pyrrha was having a hard time keeping herself from crying at this point. Her leader had spent the past two weeks working on a beautiful ring for her that also doubled as a distress signal for whenever she's in a tight spot and needed help. It touched her so much that Jaune worked so hard on something just for her and made her feel a little foolish for thinking ill of him lately. She put the ring on her right hand and pulled Jaune into a tight embrace.

"Thank you…thank you so much, Jaune," Pyrrha said, her voice wavering a little, "This is the best gift anyone's ever given me, because you worked so hard on it. I love it, Jaune."

"I'm glad you love it, Pyrrha," Jaune smiled and began to embrace her back, feeling very happy himself because of how much his partner loved the ring he made. It took a lot of time and a lot of work, even having to remake the ring multiple times, but it was worth it to see Pyrrha so happy. The two stayed in their embrace for a while, enjoying their presence, when Jaune began to speak again.

"Pyrrha…there's still something I want to ask you," Jaune started, gaining Pyrrha's attention, "I…I know I don't really deserve to ask you this now, but it's something I've been wanting to ask you for a while now and I think it's a good time to ask." Jaune pulled Pyrrha away from him and the two stared at each other, still holding on to one another. The blonde hero took a deep breath and looked at Pyrrha softly in the eyes with a light blush on his face, "D-Do you want to go out sometime?"

Pyrrha blushed more and stammered a response, "G-Go out? Y-You mean like a d-date?"

"Not like a date, Pyrrha. A date. Just the two of us," Jaune clarified, looking quite nervous, "I've been wanting to ask you out for a while but I was kind of scared that you'd say no. You're one of the best, most beautiful girl in this entire academy and such an amazing friend that I ended up getting a crush on you. I don't know how you feel about me but I wanted to let you know how I felt about you first before I lost my chance. I like you, Pyrrha. I like you a lot and I want to go out with you. Is that ok?"

Pyrrha was at tears at this point and dropped her head so Jaune couldn't see her face. She couldn't believe how lucky she was. The one person who she had feelings for just asked her out and confessed that he had feelings for her too. This was without a doubt the best day of her life. She wanted to make this day better and she knew exactly how to do it.

"…Under one condition." Pyrrha muttered with her head still down.

Jaune stared at his partner in confusion, "What's that?"

Pyrrha picked her head up and smiled brightly at the blonde, "That you'll continue to take me out on dates after the first one and be your girlfriend."

Jaune's eyes widened in shock before grinning brightly himself, "Being your boyfriend…that's an idea I can get behind."

"Good," Pyrrha nodded enthusiastically, "Now all we have to do is seal the deal."

"Seal the deal?" Jaune asked, "How do we do that?"

Pyrrha giggled and moved her face closer to Jaune's and whispered, "Like this." She proceeded to kiss her new boyfriend, whose eyes widened in surprised before he closed them and began to kiss her back. The two stayed in that position under the stars, unaware of the world around them. The shadow from before was there also, staring at the pair from its hidden position, before nodding in approval and vanishing again.

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

"Congratulations on the new couple!" Ash shouted and wrapped his arms around the blushing pair.

It was the next day and teams RWBY, JNPR and BLAD were sitting outside near the Hunters Statue congratulating Jaune and Pyrrha on their new relationship…even though the pair didn't even told them they were together themselves.

"How in the world do you even know that?" Jaune asked loudly.

"Blakey told us," Nora answered and pointed at the bow wearing ninja waving at them, "She was out for one of her evening stroll things again and saw you two kissing. She messaged it to us last night!"

Jaune turned to Blake in disbelief, "You take evening strolls on the roofs of buildings?"

"I like high places," Blake shrugged.

"I'm just happy Jaune managed to finish the ring and gave it to you, Pyrrha. He worked really hard on it," Ruby said with a smile on her face.

"And it looks amazing!" Dia exclaimed, looking at the ring.

Pyrrha smiled softly and looked at the ring, "It is amazing…isn't it."

"You better take good care of it," Weiss explained and lifted her necklace, "Tracker objects are very hard to come by, and yours is especially special because it was handmade like my necklace is. It shows you how much Jaune cares about you and how badly he wanted to be with you."

"Like that necklace shows how much Sparky 'cares' about you, Nievita? Or how his snowflake one shows how much you 'care' about him?" Yang teased, making both Weiss and Baltazar blush.

"Please don't make me electrocute you again, Yang…" Baltazar grumbled in embarrassment.

"So who won the bet?" Levy asked suddenly, gaining surprised looks from the new couple.

"Looks like Ash did…" Ren stated, looking at a small notebook like a bookie, "He had it set for this week, with the event of Jaune giving Pyrrha a touching handmade gift. It's like he saw this coming ahead of time, but we all know that he agreed to not try anything to speed up the process, so the money is his."

"Woo! Money is mine!" Ash cheered, "And I didn't even need to do anything to help them along! That makes it more satisfying!"

"I bet it does, Ash," Levy laughed, amused by her teammate's antics.

"You guys bet on us!?" The new couple shouted.

"Of course we did! Why wouldn't we?" Dia said and placed her arms around them like Ash did earlier and brought them closer so she could whisper, "You didn't think Chief and Weiss were the only pair that we betted on, did you? We also have a new one that's going on for Ren and Nora while Chief, Levy, Weiss and Yang have their own personal bet going on with Ruby and her crush. If you guys want to join in on the RenxNora train, then talk to Ash. He's the bookie for that one while I'm dealing with the ChiefxWeiss bet."

"What are you three whispering about?" Weiss and Ren asked the trio of betters.

"Nothing!" The three shouted out, laughing nervously.

"Those three will get caught if they continue to act like that," Blake stated in an amused tone.

"Well not everyone can be skilled with stealth or possess a variation of the Stealth Semblance," Baltazar commented as he walked towards her with Yang behind him and gave Blake a knowing smile, "Isn't that right, Ms. Shadow Image?"

"You can say that again Mr. Storm Cloak," Blake smirked.

"It's nice to see the two best ninjas I know getting along so well!" Yang grinned.

"We're the only ninjas you know, Yang," The black haired duo dead-panned.

"Same thing," The party girl waved off before turning to Baltazar, "So did Blake give you everything?"

"Yup," Baltazar nodded, "All of team CRDL's Scrolls are safe in my room and I gave her a copy of Mom's Tuna Fish Casserole for you to cook for her whenever she wants." The mention of the food caused Blake to drool a little.

"Easy on the drool there, tuna lover," Yang laughed, making Blake blush in embarrassment, before focusing on the other ninja, "So what are you going to do with them? I know Professor Oz said that we can do whatever want with the Scrolls if we get them after we told him about Cardin's plan. Are you planning to send one to your family or something?"

"Nah," Baltazar shook his head, "I've got something else in mind for them. I already hacked into them last night and got rid of the recording so no worries there."

"Scrolls are notorious for being difficult to hack into, Baltazar," Blake pointed out, "How were you able to get into them so quickly?"

"You learn a thing or two after watching your Dad hacking his way into your brother's Scroll to see his grades all the time," Baltazar shrugged before grinning, "Besides, stealth is not the only thing I have an affinity for. Just like how power isn't all that Yang has in her arsenal." As if proving his point, a few sparks of electricity started coming out of him for a moment and his eyes flashed blue briefly.

"You got that right," Yang smirked as flames floated out of her body briefly while her eyes flashed red also.

"…It's a good thing that you two aren't teamed up together," Blake said, "Who knows what would happen if someone put you two forces of nature together."

"Signal knows," Yang snickered, "They made us partners for our last two years there and we had to share the same dorm for the rest of our stay. All students have to work in pairs during our last two years in order to learn team building and trust exercises. We caused all sorts of trouble during those last years there."

"Correction; you caused all sorts of trouble," Baltazar corrected, "I was there to either stop you for going too far or occasionally help you out and make things better or worse for us."

"You had fun with me and you know it, Sparky," Yang countered.

"Eh…can't argue with that, _Quemadura_." Baltazar relented easily, using the nickname he gave Yang during one of their exploits in Signal.

"I swear, the two of you act more like siblings than friends the more I see you two together," Blake sighed.

"All we have to do is wait for our little siblings to get hitched and we'll be siblings ourselves for real," Yang grinned.

"We hung out a lot at Signal and had to share a lot of things once we became roommates," Baltazar explained, "We even share the same special technique that requires our gauntlets to use properly. One that I can finally say I perfected not that long ago."

Yang looked at her friend in surprise, "You mean you…"

"That's right," Baltazar nodded before turning to Jaune, who was chatting happily with the others and holding Pyrrha's hand, "And I think we should teach it to Jaune."

"Are you sure?" Yang questioned worriedly, which made Blake stare at her curiously, "I told you the first time I used that skill, remember? I burned my neck and have to wear a scarf after I healed so no one could see the scars, even though the scars faded to nothing now. And I saw what happened when you used the skill the first time, too. You damaged your eyes badly enough that you have to wear those glasses now."

"That's why we'll be there. To make sure he doesn't get hurt," Baltazar explained "And Pyrrha will be there for support. Besides, Jaune doesn't have the same risks we had when we learned the technique. He doesn't have a volatile element in his aura like we do. I think he might have an easier time learning this than we did because of his aura's protective nature."

"Hm…" Yang remained quiet for a moment before responding, "Alright, let's do it. But if this fails and Pyrrha tries to kill us for hurting her new beau, I'm shifting all the blame to you and let you deal with the backlash."

"Works for me," Baltazar responded quickly, shocking Blake greatly with how easily he agreed.

Baltazar and Yang walked up to Jaune and Pyrrha, and the couple looked at them curiously.

"What's up?" Jaune asked.

"Change of plans with our training schedule, mate," Baltazar said suddenly, "Our training is going to be a little different starting now. Since Pyrrha's joining in, I'm having Yang join in also and have them work on your aura control. I'll be working on a new set of gloves for you during then that will be able to channel aura similar to how my and Yang's gauntlets do. Once the girls get your control up to par, Yang and I are going to teach you one of our strongest skills, so get ready for one hell of a training session."

"Strongest skill?" Jaune questioned.

"We'll show you and Pyrrha them later so you'll have an idea on what we're planning to teach you," Yang said.

"Sis, Bro?" Ruby called out, "Are you two planning to teach Jaune **that** move?"

"Are you sure it's such a good idea?" Weiss asked, looking at her best friend, "You said you hurt yourself badly after using it the first time and you just recently managed to prefect it, which is over two years now if I may add."

"It took Yang three years to perfect her version of it, and she started during her first year of Signal," Ruby pointed out.

Everyone turned to the Signal graduates, curious as to what skill they had that it took them years to master.

"Sorry mates, but only Jaune and Pyrrha will see the skill for now," Baltazar apologized, "It's still considered a last resort attack for us and other than Jaune for obvious reasons; Pyrrha's the only other person to see it because she'll be training him to prepare for this skill."

"You don't have to learn this if you don't want to, Jaune," Yang said, surprising her fellow blonde, "You may have the ability to learn our skill, but you don't need to know it."

"She's right," Baltazar agreed, "I'm not going to force you to learn the technique if you don't want to. You'll still be going through the aura session because that will help you in the long run, but the choice for the other half of the lesson is for you to choose. Whatever choice you make, we'll follow and support it."

Jaune looked at Baltazar and Yang in blatant surprise. The two of them are giving them the choice of him learning one of their best attacks, one that took them years to master. He couldn't believe how the tow of them trusted him so much. It touched him and made him feel very happy for having such great friends and now an amazing girlfriend. He made his choice then and there.

"I'll do it," Jaune answered firmly, "I'll learn your skill. If it means that I'll be able to protect my team better, to protect Pyrrha better, then I'll learn it."

"Jaune," Pyrrha whispered, touched by her boyfriend's resolve.

"Now that's what I like to see," Yang grinned, feeling more comfortable about the idea of teaching Jaune now.

"You'll also be able to learn and master our attack much faster than Yang and I did," Baltazar stated, surprising Jaune once more, "You'll be having two instructors that will help you out with this skill the entire time instead of no one like Yang or only one like me, and even then I had to finish the technique by myself. Not only that, you're aura is not as volatile as mine or Yang's is either, not even close, so you won't be hurting yourself too badly when practicing the skill." He held his hand out to Jaune, "You've made a lot of progress since coming here Jaune, and I have faith that you'll be able to master our skill quickly."

"You have my faith, too, Jauney Boy," Yang grinned, placing a hand on Baltazar's shoulder and giving Jaune a thumbs up.

Jaune and Pyrrha looked at each other for a moment, smiling as they did so. Pyrrha nodded her head and gave Jaune's hand a tight squeeze, telling him that she was ok with the plan. Jaune nodded back and turned to Baltazar with a broad grin and shook his hand.

"Thanks a lot you guys," Jaune said gratefully, "I'm looking forward to learning your guys' skill."

"And we're looking forward to teaching it to you, _Caballero Blanco_," Baltazar smiled, with Yang nodding behind him.

The others looked at the four with large smiles on their faces also, happy to see everyone getting stronger and becoming more like the kind of hunters Vytal needs in this world. As the three teams went back to talking amongst themselves, Ozpin looked at them with a small smile on his face and drank a little coffee.

"The future is starting to look bright now thanks to these kids," Ozpin muttered to himself, "Looks like things are going to be very interesting very quickly." He took another sip of coffee and made his smile a smirk, "I can't wait."

Author's note: Ok…This I didn't see coming. I knew this was going to be a long chapter, but I was expecting it to surpass chapter 3's length by a good 300 words without the author's notes and disclaimers. No wonder it took me longer than expected to finish this. And watching Soul Eater for 10 hours straight with my roommate on Saturday didn't really help either, but it was worth it. I have to say, this was a challenging chapter to write, especially with the early change I made in having Jaune get help early. I really hope I did well in this chapter as there were many things that I had in my head for a while that I wanted to add, including the bit between Weiss and Baltazar in the beginning of Dr. Oobleck's class and Jaune and Baltazar's implied flying trip with a rocket locker. I feel especially proud of the part where Jaune and Pyrrha becoming a couple, especially with the tracker ring Jaune made. Now, there are a couple things I want to point out now before I forget. Both Blake and Baltazar possess the Stealth Semblance in my story, but they have different versions of it. Blake has her canon skill, her after-image ability, which is called Shadow Image while Baltazar has his invisibly ability, which is now named Storm Cloak. It is called that because of his strong lightning affinity, which is on par with Yang's fire affinity. Also, in my story, Yang has a strength based semblance with a fire affinity. I got this idea from the fact that, according to the RWBY Wiki, Weiss, Glynda, and Cinder Fall, all have the Glyph Semblance that perform different actions, with Cinder's being elemental based. I decided that some of the characters will have actual elemental affinities while others may have an elemental preference, an element they'll feel more comfortable with. Along with Baltazar and Yang, Blake, Jaune and even Pyrrha have an elemental affinity with Darkness, Light and Electricity respectively, but Pyrrha's affinity is more on the lines of magnetism so she won't be able to perform all the same skills that Baltazar has. Also, characters such as Weiss and Levy have an elemental preference, with Weiss being Ice and Levy being Water. I will expand on this more once more information is reviled for RWBY.

Now for a bit of bad news: I will not be making another chapter of Life at Beacon after this. While I do have an idea for what the next story for it will be, there are a couple things that I want to finish first before I write it. First is Chapter 6 of this story, the first of truly original chapters for BLAD of RWBY and JNPR and the one I'm looking forward to the most, because this one will be focused more on Baltazar's life and past and will also be the chapter where he and Weiss get together. The other reason why Life at Beacon will be on hold is because I want to at least upload the first chapter of the BLAD of RWBY and JNPR Christmas story I'm planning to write. I inadvertently wrote the prequel for it in the form of Black Friday Madness, so read that story in Life at Beacon if you want so you can get the idea of what the story's going to be about. As compensation for not uploading another story after this, I will be uploading two stories after I finish the Christmas special. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you all again for Chapter 6.

Translations:

Quemadura: a burn. Used for Yang's nickname due to her fire skills.

Caballero Blanco: White knight


	6. Revelations: Friendship and Feelings

Hi everyone, Black Fuego here with the 6th chapter of the BLAD of RWBY and JNPR. This chapter is the first of a few original chapters that will be made for this story so I hope you all will like them. This one will explain a little about Baltazar's past, including when he first became friends with Weiss and his relationship to his extended family, which was hinted a little in chapter three. This chapter will also briefly introduce a character that's been mentioned a lot in this story, so I hope you'll like him. Enjoy chapter 6 everyone.

Disclaimer: I don't own the RWBY series or any other references that I might make in this story. All I own is the make believe city that's about to be introduced and was mentioned once in Life at Beacon.

"Hi" Talking  
_"Hi"_ Thinking  
_'Hi'/Hi _Memory and/or Flash Back  
'Hi' Reading  
_"__Hola__"_ Different language

The BLAD of RWBY and JNPR Chapter 6: Revelations: The Origin of Friendship and the Feelings of an Heiress

"_I got everything ready to go, but I still feel like I'm forgetting something…but what?"_ Baltazar thought as he sat on his bed in his sleeping clothes. It was late Saturday evening and he and his team were resting in their room discussing about their weapons for no real reason. It has been over a month since the Forever Fall field trip and things have gone fairly well with him and his friends. His studies have been going well, two of his friends, Jaune and Pyrrha, got together, and he managed to get a couple new games that were just released for him and Weiss. The only thing he regretted so far was that he was asleep while all of his friends went through all sorts of trouble trying to get a sleep deprived Ren to go to bed. He really wanted to see the magenta eyed teen in a giant cradle and being accidentally pushed off Beacon Cliffs by his troublemaking red headed teammate. At least he got tickets for a free meal at Rosso's Pizzeria for him and Weiss in the end, so he can't complain. He also managed to get Weiss's love for videogames out in the open as well and didn't regret it…even though she turned him into an ice statue after she caught up to him during their chase.

Lately though, he's been having a nagging feeling in the back of his head, like he was forgetting something important. He would normally shrug it off, but he couldn't this time because he felt that whatever he forgot this time was big...really big. He's been having this feeling for a week now and it still hasn't gone away. He's been trying his hardest to remember what it was but had no luck so far.

"_Did I forget to tell Papymon about my new weapon modification? No…I did that after I finished hacking team CRDL's Scrolls and he liked it a lot. There are no big tests going on soon so it's not that. I even remembered to finish my report early for Professor Goodwitch's class, so that's not it. Oh man I'm lost…"_

"…and to this day I still can't figure out why I can't channel my semblance into my elemental arrows," Dia sighed to her teammates, completely unaware of her leader's internal fight with his forgetfulness.

"Wow, Dee, that sucks," Ash commented.

"It could be because of the Dust in the arrows," Levy suggested.

The rest of team BLAD were sitting on their respectful beds as well and were also in their sleeping clothes; Levy wearing an oversized lavender t-shirt that reached her knees with violet shorts underneath, Ash wearing a grey sleeveless shirt and silver shorts, and Dia wearing a yellow-green tank top and emerald sweats.

"But the Dust that I use don't have suppressive capabilities," Dia argued.

"It might be the material used to make the arrows, then," Ash guessed before turning to his leader, "Any ideas, Balto?"

The red head received no response and everyone turned to the ninja to see him still lost in thought.

"Uhh…Balto? Dude?" Ash asked.

"_Jaune's new gloves will be finished when I get back, so it's not them."_

"Yo, Chief? You there?" Dia called out.

"_It can't be the trip to Rosso's with Weiss. We're going when I come back."_

"_Primo_, what's wrong?" Levy questioned in concern.

"_Oh for the love of Vytal, what the hell am I forgetting?"_

"Baltazar!" Team BLAD shouted to their leader.

"Waah!" Baltazar screamed and jumped high, nearly hitting his head on the ceiling. After calming down he turned to his team, who was looking at him in concern.

"What's up?" Baltazar asked, curious as to why his team called out to him like that.

"Dude, are you ok?" Ash asked again.

"You've been spacing out like that for about a week and we're getting worried," Dia stated.

"Is there something you're not telling us?" Levy asked with sad eyes.

Touched by his team's concern for him, Baltazar gave a small smile and spoke, "I'm fine guys, it's nothing bad…at least I think it isn't."

"What do you mean, dude," Ash pressed.

The leader sighed and scratched his neck, "I'm not sure myself to be honest. I've been getting this nagging feeling lately, like I've forgotten something really important. I've been thinking about what it was for a while now but I have nothing so far. It's really starting to bug me."

"Do you really think what you've forgotten is something really important, Chief?" Dia questioned.

"…I believe so." Baltazar muttered.

"Just try to relax, _primo_," Levy smiled as she walked to her cousin's bed and placed a hand on his shoulder, "If it's really important, then it will come to you soon."

Baltazar sighed, "If you're sure, Levy."

"Well let's not worry about that now," Ash grinned, "For now let's focus on something that's really important now!"

"That's right!" Dia nodded excitedly, "Our next field trip is coming up soon and I can't wait for it!"

"Field Trip?" Baltazar questioned.

"Wow Chief, you're clueless," Dia giggled, "Didn't you hear? We're going to have another field trip in a couple weeks to the City of Craftsmen!"

The ninja's eyes went wide, "The City of Craftsmen? You mean…"

"Yup!" Levy beamed and hugged her cousin tightly, "We're going to Forjador City for our next field trip! We're going home!"

"We're going home…?" Baltazar whispered.

"You're from Forjador City, Levy?" Dia asked curiously, "I know Chief is from there, but I didn't think that you would be from Forjador of all places."

"It makes sense though..."Ash mused as he rubbed his chin and looked to his leader and healer, "The two of them are close cousins, almost like siblings, and they did say they shared the same trainer as a kid. Not to mention I've seen Levs fiddle around with some cloth to make a few scarves a few times, and those look expertly made. Only a citizen of the City of Craftsmen can make the things these two make with ease.

"_Home…" _Baltazar thought happily, _"We're going home for our next field trip. That's unexpected. I wonder how much it's changed. Wait…a couple weeks?"_

"The field trip is in two weeks?" Baltazar asked.

"It is, dude," Ash confirmed, "We leave on Wednesday morning and come back early Saturday. It's just past the Forever Fall forest, so it shouldn't take that long by Dust Plane. We're going to all sorts of places during our trip, from the minor combat school Salvation Academy to the Forjador Crafter's Market. We're even going to spend an entire day in the famous Azure Armory Inc. Main Weapons Factory! It's going to be awesome!"

As Ash continued with his happy explanation of the field trip plan, Baltazar began to pale as he started to remember what was bothering him. He grabbed his Scroll and activated the calendar function in it and hung his head in depression after looking over it.

"Ah dammit," Baltazar cursed, causing his team to look at him strangely, "So that's what I forgot."

"What's wrong?" Dia asked.

"I can't make it…" Baltazar muttered sadly. "I'll be gone a week before the trip and I can't come back until the trip is over."

"What?!" the rest of the team shouted.

"Remember when I told you guys a little bit about my family back at the beginning of school?" Baltazar asked, gaining nods in response, "Well we have a tradition of sorts that happens around this time. Once every five years everyone in my family, along with a few other families, meet up for a huge reunion. It's a fairly big reunion and the location of it changes depending on which family is in charge of it. This time the Azul family is in charge of the reunion and we have to head out early in order to prepare for it."

"It's been five years already?" Levy asked in surprise, "I didn't even know it's been that long."

"Does that mean Levs has to go too?" Ash questioned his leader.

Baltazar shook his head, "The family reunion is from my dad's side of the family. Levy's my cousin from my mom's side, she doesn't need to come."

"And… when are you're leaving?" Dia asked, feeling like she already knew the answer.

Baltazar sighed, "I leave in a few days. Professor Ozpin already knows and Signal Academy has been informed also, so my brother Cody's been excused also. We're supposed to meet up with our parents and sister and then we will be informed by my grandfather where we'll be having the reunion."

"That soon!" Ash exclaimed, "Why didn't you tell us earlier?"

"That's what I forgot…" Baltazar said sheepishly, "I was so busy getting ready for the reunion that I forgot about the field trip and to tell anyone that I was heading out, not just you guys. As far as I'm aware, the only other person, other than our teachers, who knows about it is Weiss, and that's because she got a message from Mom asking her to help me get ready."

Levy couldn't help but giggle, "I'm not surprised _Tía_ Leti called Weiss to help you. You are kinda flighty sometimes, _primo_."

Baltazar glared at his cousin lightly as their teammates laughed at their leader good naturedly.

"She has a point, dude. You do have your head in the clouds sometimes," Ash chuckled, causing the leader's head to drop in depression, "Not to mention you're as curious as a cat when something catches your interest. Remember when you tried to drink some sap back at Forever Fall because you thought it was sweet like Nora said before the Ice Princess stopped you?"

"I bet Weiss has to hold your hand to keep you from getting lost, eh Chief?" Dia teased.

Baltazar blushed a little but gave a small laugh himself, "Only if she doesn't get lost herself. She has a bad sense of direction like me and tries too hard to not admit it."

Everyone began laughing at this point. Baltazar smiled after he calmed down, happy to have such a nice group of friends for his team.

"So when are you going to tell the others that you're leaving?" Levy asked.

"I'll tell them tomorrow," Baltazar answered, "I just hope they don't take the news too badly."

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

"What do you mean you can't come with us on the field trip!? It's literally a school funded trip home for you!" Yang shouted as she shook her fellow Signal graduate by the shirt violently. "Why are you not going!?"

"I! Just! Told! You! Why! Now! Please! Stop! Sha-! -King! Me!" Baltazar pleaded, growing dizzier and dizzier from the constant shaking.

"I'll be honest, I actually saw this coming," Dia commented in amusement.

It was the next day and team BLAD managed to gather teams RWBY and JNPR together so that Baltazar could tell his friends about his family reunion and that he can't come to the field trip to Forjador City. While most of them were ok with him not being able to make it, there were some who weren't all that happy.

"Are you sure you can't just skip the reunion, Bro?" Ruby asked sadly, "I remember Cody telling me that not everyone has to come to the reunions."

"It's because it's the Azul family that's hosting the reunion this time that he can't skip," Levy explained for her cousin, "Everyone who is available has to attend early to help with the preparations, even those who are in school. They are excused from classes until the reunion is over."

"So both Bro and Cody have to go…" Ruby muttered before asking again, "Do they really not have a choice in whether or not they need to go?"

"I suggest you tell your sister to stop shaking your brother first before you ask any more questions…or before his neck snaps at least," Ren stated stoically, noticing that the fire brawler was starting to shake the lightning ninja harder now.

"Yang! Will you stop shaking him now?!" Weiss ordered, "You're going to break his neck, you big brute!"

Yang paused her shaking to stare at her teammate momentarily before turning to her friend in her hands, who had his head back and eyes spinning, stars and music notes floating around his head. Yang gasped and let go of the lightning ninja, dropping him on the ground and making everyone sweat-drop.

"Woops, sorry about that, Sparky," Yang laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of her neck.

Jaune kneeled down to his friend and looked at him in concern, "Baltazar? Are you ok?"

"He'll be fine," Blake reassured, "Looks like he's just really dizzy. It'll pass soon."

"_Veo las __estrellas y __las __notas__ de __música,__"_ Baltazar dazedly groaned out in Spanish.

"What did he say?" Nora asked eagerly, as she always got excited whenever Baltazar or Levy spoke in another language.

"Something about seeing stars and music notes." Ruby answered, gaining curious looks from most of her friends, "What?"

"It's like I told Blake back at the Emerald Forest," Yang explained, "When you hang out with someone whose family speaks Spanish all the time, you'll pick up a few things." She then pointed over to Weiss, "In fact, Weiss is practically fluent in the language because she's been hanging out with Sparky and his family since she was three."

"You know, I've been always wondering about that," Pyrrha asked as she looked to her white haired friend, "How did you two meet? I don't think you've ever told us that yet."

"Yeah, I've been wondering about that too, dude," Ash admitted, looking towards his leader as Jaune helped the dizzy teen up, "Levs was there with you two early on so she knows, and I have no doubt that either you or your folks told Ruby and Yang the story." The sisters nodded in confirmation, "But the rest of us are in the dark on how you two became friends. Would you mind telling us how it happened?"

Weiss and Baltazar looked at each other curiously, wondering how they should tell the story. After a short while, the pair smiled and nodded, before motioning the others to sit down.

"All right everyone, get yourselves comfortable," Baltazar said, "This might take a while."

"Both of us are going to be telling the story, so pay attention, ok?" Weiss explained, and received multiple nods in response, "Alright. While we did meet once or twice when we were very young, we became friends when we were three, shortly after the little troublemaker was born…"

_/Flashback: 14 years ago, Forjador City/_

"_Daddy? Where are we going?" A young Weiss asked, looking up to her father, as they walked in a park. He was a tall, blue eyed man with short, silver colored hair with a small mustache and was wearing a dark grey business suit with a white tie. Mr. Schnee looked down to his daughter and gave her a gentle smile._

"_We're going to visit a very good friend of mine, my little Snow Angel," Mr. Schnee said, "He has a new son and he invited me to see him. His oldest son is just a few weeks older than you also and I haven't seen the young boy in a while. You've met him a couple times already, but I doubt you remember."_

_Weiss looked down and fiddled with her small white dress, "Is the boy nice?"_

_He smiled at his daughter's shyness and gave her a gentle pat on the head, "Weiss that is something you don't have to worry about. Little Baltazar is a good boy from what his father told me and can be quite energetic from time to time, so I'm sure you two will have a lot of fun together."_

_The young heiress had a confused look as she struggled to speak, "Ba…Ba…Balasa?"_

_The older Schnee laughed heartedly at his daughter's attempt to say the name, "Ah…If I had a lien for every time I hear someone say that name wrong."_

"_Like you need any more money, Wolke. If anything, I should get the lien for every mispronunciation, since it's my name as well." A strong male voice laughed out._

_Wolke turned to the voice and smiled brightly as a few familiar figures approached him and Weiss. One of them was a black haired man with golden brown eyes and slit pupils, blue framed glasses, a sapphire blue t-shirt and simple blue pants, and the other was a woman with short black hair with brown eyes, a violet sundress and sun hat. The woman was pushing a stroller, which held a sleeping black haired baby boy that was only a month or two old, while walking beside the older man was a little boy the same age as Weiss who looked almost exactly like his father, with the same black hair, brown eyes and even the same clothes, with the only difference being the lack of glasses and that his eyes were a darker shade of brown.._

"_You can never have too much money, Baltazar," The silver haired man joked, "Or should I call you Senior now? Since that little mini-me of yours has your name also."_

"_Just call me Bo like you use to, you old snowman," Bo joked as well, "And just so you know, it was my grandmother who ended up naming my oldest boy. Leti wanted his name to be Ricardo but Ama got to the doctors first and gave him Papyzar's name."_

"_That old woman's still alive?" Wolke asked in surprise, "You'd think she'd be with her husband on the other side by now, but I guess she still has things to do in the land of the living," He turned to the woman and gave her a friendly smile, "And it's nice to see you again Leti. How's old Luis doing?"_

"_My father is doing fine, Wolke, thank you," Leti said kindly, "He's still as active as ever even though he's a retired huntsman. And how is you're wife? Is she still out fighting the Grimm?"_

"_Kalt is actually resting at home right now," Wolke explained, "She just returned from a mission over at Atlas and was quite exhausted. She wanted to come, but I pretty much forced her to stay so she wouldn't strain herself too much. I swear that woman is so headstrong sometimes that I don't know what to do with her most of the time."_

"_But that's one of the reasons you love my old teammate, isn't it?" Bo teased before looking down at Weiss. "And how have you been, little Weiss. I haven't seen you since you were a baby."_

_Weiss stared at the older man for a moment before she spoke, "Why do you have lines in your eyes instead of circles like daddy, Mister? It's weird, and makes you look like a kitty."_

_Wolke laughed and Leti giggled herself while Bo hung his head in depression._

"_You're just as blunt as your mother Kalt, you know that?" Bo muttered to the young girl, who was still looking at the black haired man curiously._

"_She's becoming more and more like her each passing day," Wolke laughed out before turning to little Baltazar, "And how are you doing, Bo Junior? I have to say, you look like an exact copy of your old man in that get up. Did he dress you up or something?"_

_Baltazar said nothing for a while before he pointed at the silver haired man's eyes, "Why do you have blue eyes? __Papi__ has blue eyes sometimes but they go away. How do you keep your eyes blue? Can I have blue eyes, too? Do you think my eyes will have lines like Papi? Why does he have lines for eyes?"_

_Wolke smiled at the little boy's curiosity and turned to Leti, "And he's just as curious as you were when you first came to Vytal."_

"_Hard to believe, isn't it?" Leti began, "He looks just like his father, but his personality comes from me and my family."_

"_Well I think it's time these two get reacquainted with one another now," Bo said and pushed his oldest son forward, "Hijo, I like you to meet Weiss. You two met earlier, but you're both too young to remember."_

_Wolke nodded and pushed his daughter up as well, "Weiss, this is little Baltazar, the one I was telling you about earlier. Go and introduce yourself to him."_

_The two kids walked up to each other, unsure of what to say. After a few moments, Weiss was the first to speak. _

"_Uh…hi," Weiss began, "My name is Weiss. Weiss Schnee."_

"_Um…My name is Baltazar Azul," Baltazar introduced, looking a little nervous, "I…I like your hair, Weiss. I-It's pretty, l-like your eyes."_

_Weiss blushed a little for some reason and gave the nervous boy a timid smile, "T-Thank you Balasa."_

"_It's Baltazar," The little boy corrected._

"_Babaza?" Weiss asked._

"_Baltazar."_

"_Bebeca?"_

"_Baltazar."_

"_Baltimore?"_

"_Baltazar."_

"_Bulbasaur?"_

_As the two went back and forth, their fathers were laughing hysterically, while Leti was watching them with an amused expression._

"_Oh dear lord," Wolke gasped out, "This is going almost exactly like when we first met."_

"_It's like history's repeating itself," Bo rasped, out of breath from all the laughing he's done._

_Leti shook her head at the pair and turned to the children, who seemed to have finished with their game of Verbal Tennis._

"_Wow…my name is really hard to say, huh?" Baltazar laughed a little._

_Weiss glared a little and pouted, "Well it's your fault for having such a hard name. Why don't you change it to something better…like John or Cody?"_

"_I can't," Baltazar shook his head, "Mommy wanted to name me Ricky, but she said that Papi's abuelita was the one who named me." He then looked towards the stroller his mom had, "If I could change my name, it can't be Cody. The little baby Mommy got has the name."_

"_Baby?" Weiss wondered and walked over to Leti and the stroller, with Baltazar following close behind her. Leti saw them approaching the stroller and smiled. She stepped aside a little to allow the kids to see the baby._

"_I take it you want to see Cody, Weiss?" The mother asked, and received an enthusiastic nod in response. "Well ok then. Take a look."_

_Weiss smiled and looked into the stroller, seeing the sleeping Cody looking so peaceful under his blankets. Weiss was amazed by how small it was, and looked at Leti with a curious gaze._

"_Why is the baby so tiny?" Weiss asked cutely._

_Leti giggled and kneeled down to Weiss's height, "Because all babies are that small. When they get older, they'll get bigger. You and Baltazar were his size too before you started growing."_

"_Really?" Weiss wondered. She turned to Baltazar and was given a nod in response._

"_Mommy said the same thing when she brought Cody home. Mommy said that I'm a big brother now, too, and that I have to help take care of him."_

"_Big brother?" Weiss asked, looking a little confused, "Can I be a big brother too?"_

"_No, sweetie," Leti shook her head and smiled, "Only boys can be brothers. But you can be something that only girls can become. You can be a big sister."_

"_A big sister…" the little girl said to herself before turning to her father, "Daddy! I wanna be a big sister!"_

"_A big sister?" Wolke asked in surprise. He put on a thoughtful pose and began to think, "Hm…I'm not sure if we can, my little Snow Angel. Mommy and I are going to be real busy soon, so it will be hard for us to give you a little brother or sister anytime soon." He began to frown as he saw the dejected look on his daughter's face._

"_Now Wolke, who's to say she can't be a sister now?" Bo smiled, causing everyone to look at him strangely. He turned to his oldest boy and spoke, "__Hijo__, will you be ok with sharing your little brother with Weiss and let her be a big sister?"_

"_Yeah!" Baltazar answered excitedly, as his mother and Weiss's dad looked at his dad in surprise. "I can share Cody! Weiss wants to be a sister and Cody can make her be a sister, right?"_

"_That's right," Bo smiled and turned to his wife and friend, "You two are ok with it, right?"_

"_It's fine with me and I know Kalt would be ecstatic," Wolke grinned._

"_I always wanted a daughter," Leti mused jokingly, showing her approval._

"_That settles it then," Bo grinned and stared down at Weiss, "Congratulations Weiss. You are now a big sister, which means you're going to be seeing us much more often now. For now on, you will call me Uncle Bo and my wife Aunt Leti. Is that ok?"_

"_Ok!" Weiss grinned before pointing at Baltazar, "What about Baklava?"_

"_Baltazar," the boy corrected quickly._

"_You can call him whatever you want," Bo laughed, "Since you two are going to be seeing each other a lot now. Who knows? Looks like you two are already good friends to me, maybe you'll be something more eventually."_

_Not really understanding what Bo meant in the last part, the kids looked at each other for a moment before smiling to one another._

"_Are you going to be my sister too, Weiss?" Baltazar asked curiously._

"_I just wanna be Cody's brother," Weiss clarified, "But I do want to be your friend, Bokomon."_

"_Baltazar," the boy corrected and they resumed their game of Verbal Tennis, much to their parents' amusement._

_/End flashback/_

"And that's pretty much how it started," Baltazar finished, "I guess you could say it was Cody that got us to be friends since Weiss really wanted to be a big sister." He then snickered a little and turned to his best friend, "Although it was funny to listen to Weiss struggle with my name for over a month."

"I still think you should've had your name changed," Weiss pouted, "And didn't you say it took you two months for you to learn how to say your name when you first heard it?"

"And that's still better in comparison to how long it took others to learn it," The cloak user pointed out, looking specifically at his cousin. "In fact, some _still_ haven't learned how to say it right."

"Oh come on, _primo_, it only happened twice in the Emerald Forest. I said I was sorry," Levy whined.

"Three times, Levy. And sorry doesn't make up for Yang saying 'I chose you, Bulbasaur!' every time she wants me to do something for her." Baltazar argued before he was pulled into a strong hug by the blonde he just mentioned.

"Oh you sounded so adorable in that story, Sparky!" Yang squealed, unaware that she was practically squeezing the life out of her friend, "Oh I wish I could've seen you and Weiss when you were that young. I bet you guys were super cute!"

"Choking! Not breathing!" Baltazar gasped out, beginning to look a little blue.

"There they go again," Ren droned as Weiss began yelling at her teammate to stop harming her best friend once more.

"I'm not gonna lie, I kinda wish I was in Balto's position for a moment there," Ash admitted shamelessly, "I'm sure there are plenty of guys here in Beacon that would wish for that too."

"Not me," Jaune pointed out happily and grabbed Pyrrha's hand, "I already have someone who can hug me like that whenever she wants, and she knows how to control her strength."

"Oh Jaune, you're so sweet," Pyrrha smiled brightly and rewarded her boyfriend with a peck on the cheek.

"Smooth, Lady Killer," Dia grinned in approval and gave her fellow blonde a thumbs up.

"So you really won't be able to come back in time for the field trip?" Blake asked the gasping ninja, wanting to go back to their original topic.

"Nah, and I wish I could, too," Baltazar groaned, thankful to Weiss for getting him out of Yang's death grip, "I wanted to show you guys some awesome places that I use to go to as a kid, but I guess that's Levy's and Weiss's job now. Not only that, I don't really have much fun in the family reunions. The only things that made it bearable were the few friends that I see when I'm there, Weiss included."

"And you don't know where the reunion is going to be held?" Blake pressed curiously.

"Not a clue," Baltazar shook his head, "The location of the reunion depends on the family who's in charge of the set up at the time. I don't really remember where the first reunion was taken place; I was only two at the time, but the reunion ten years ago was over at Atlas while the last one was held over at Vacuo. This time's my family's turn and Papymon won't let us know until this coming Wednesday."

"And who were the families that hosted those reunions and how are they familiar with your family?" Blake continued to question.

"Blake, give it a rest," Ruby intervened, "I know that you're curious but that's no reason to interrogate Bro like that."

Blake realized what she was doing and gave her fellow ninja an apologetic look, "…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked so many questions."

"No worries, Blake. It's ok," Baltazar waved off, "You're just curious. I can understand." He then began to walk away from the group, "Now if you guys excuse me, I have to go. I need to talk to Prof. Ozpin about something important."

"What's that, Balty?" Nora asked.

"My temporary replacement for my team, at least for the field trip," Baltazar explained, "Levy's going to be in charge since she's second in command, but I'd still feel better if there was a fourth person in the group just in case something bad happens in Forjador City. Prof. Ozpin messaged me earlier today saying that there were a few students that couldn't make it to a different field trip and could come to this one as a make up trip."

"Do you know who it is, Chief?" Dia asked, hoping that the replacement wouldn't be someone like Cardin or his team.

"Not a clue," Baltazar shrugged, "I guess I'll find out when I get there."

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

"Now, are you sure you have everything?"

"Yes…"

"Do you have your weapons?"

"I do…"

"Your clothes?"

"In my case…"

"What about-"

"For the last time, Weiss, I have everything!" Baltazar shouted in annoyance, flailing his arms wildly, "You had everything I needed on a list and I followed it to the word! You even helped me pack a few things, remember?"

"Well excuse me for worrying if you accidentally forgot something again," Weiss argued and crossed her arms, "I know how flighty you are so I need to make sure that you have everything you need for your trip."

"Are they always like this?" Velvet asked Levy curiously.

"For as long as I can remember," Levy sighed exasperatedly.

It was the day Baltazar had to leave and everyone was there to see him off at the airship landing area. When the lightning ninja went to Prof. Ozpin to talk about his replacement for the field trip, the headmaster suggested Velvet Scarlatina, the Rabbit Faunus that was often picked on by Cardin a while back. While Velvet was nervous at first when she first met team BLAD, she quickly warmed up to them once she saw how friendly they were to her. She was also very flattered when Ash flirted with her, since no one ever tried anything like that to her because of her race. She was also introduced to teams RWBY and JNPR and she got along with them pretty well. She did notice something off about Blake and Baltazar, but she shrugged it off, feeling like it wasn't her place to say.

"Might as well get used to it, Vel," Ash said and placed an arm around the surprised Faunus, "This happens a lot and if you want to hang out with us after this, then this is one of the things that you have to watch out for. Next to Jauney and Nicky making out every once in a while and Ruby going fan girl on nearly every new weapon she sees."

"Ash!" Jaune and Pyrrha shouted, embarrassed by what he said about them.

"I don't fan girl on every weapon I see," Ruby argued before becoming unsure, "…Do I?"

"You were clinging on to Nora's legs after she demonstrated Magnhild in Weapon Maintenance class and begged her if you could take it apart to see how it worked," Ren said, effectively embarrassing Ruby as well.

"You looked so adorable doing it too! Like a little puppy!" Nora cooed.

Yang laughed at her sister's very red face and wrapped her arm around the bubbly bomber, "Nora, you have just won your position as my favorite member of team JNPR."

"Does that mean I get a prize or something?" Nora asked curiously.

Before her question could be answered, she heard someone clear his throat. Turning around, she and the others saw Professor Ozpin walking towards them with his usual cane and coffee cup at hand.

"Quite a collection of friends you have here, eh Baltazar?" Ozpin said with a small smile.

Baltazar turned to his friends and made a small smile himself, "You can say that again, Professor, and I wouldn't trade anyone of them for anything."

"There's one in particular that he has no intention of letting go," Dia snickered to Blake as she pointed to Weiss.

"That was obvious the moment I met those two," Blake whispered, recalling the little fiasco on the first day of school and the couple-like argument the two shared.

"I take it you're here to send Baltazar off, sir?" Weiss asked curiously, unaware of the silent conversation between the archer and the shadow ninja.

"Of course," Ozpin nodded, "Why wouldn't I send the son of one of my old classmates off to his reunion. Although I will admit that he takes more after his mother than anything."

"You knew my parents, sir?" Baltazar asked in surprise. Everyone else was surprised as well by the revelation,

"That's right," The headmaster confirmed and looked at the rest of the group, "In fact I am known by most of your families. Weiss's parents, Ruby and Yang's uncle, Jaune's father and even Ashton's mother were all fellow classmates of mine alongside Professor Goodwitch. And if I recall correctly, Blake's grandmother was the Grimm Studies professor and Lavanda's grandfather, Leti's mother, was the new Close Combat instructor for a short duration during my time as a student.

"Grandma Raven was an instructor here?" Blake whispered to herself in surprise.

"I forgot that Dad use to be a huntsman before he took over the company," Weiss gasped.

"I didn't know that Abuelito taught here as a combat coach," Levy mused.

"No wonder he had an easy time teaching us close combat techniques more than anything," Baltazar said to her cousin, "Though I wonder why Mom went to Beacon…Abuelito may have been an instructor there for a bit, but she never went to any kind of combat school before. She doesn't like fighting."

"She was simply a frequent visitor of the academy," Ozpin explained with a laugh, "Leti wasn't from Vytal, as you know, and she was always curious about what was happening in Beacon. She often came to visit Bo, Wolke and Kalt to ask them about what goes on here, but Qrow and James had to correct most of the trio's mistakes while Etna just laughed at Leti's naivety and confusion."

"You really do know Uncle Qrow!" Ruby exclaimed happily.

"That explains why Dad was able to get me in here so easily," Jaune muttered to himself.

"Now I understand why Ma was so happy that I got accepted into Beacon," Ash said fondly.

Before any more reminiscing could be made, the sound of a Bullhead Airship was heard and everyone turned to see the Dust plane land nearby with Weiss's snowflake emblem on the sides of the plane. The plane's hatch opened and from inside it came a young boy about Ruby's age with Yang's height. The boy had short black hair and brown eyes similar to Baltazar and was wearing a cobalt blue hoodie sweater, dark blue pants, black and white shoes and a pair of fingerless gloves with metal plates similar to Ash's gloves, with the striped lightning bolt symbol engraved on to the metal, the same symbol on Baltazar's coat. On the boy's back there was, what seems to be, the hilt of a large sword that was somehow contained in a short sheath and a weapons pouch similar to what Baltazar and Levy have latch to his backside.

"So this is Beacon, eh?" The young boy said to himself as he walked away from the airship, "I have to say, this is a cool looking place. I have to remember to thank Old Man Wolke for letting us borrow one of his Bullhead jets once I get the chance. Now, I wonder where-"

"Cody!"

The now identified Cody only had a moment to react before a red and black blur tackled him into the ground. The boy groaned and wondered what hit him when he noticed rose petals were floating around him for a moment before disappearing. Realizing what happened to him, he looked down to see a mass of reddish-black hair and smiled brightly.

"Nice to know you haven't lost your strength, Rubes," Cody chuckled, "In fact, I have to say you've gotten stronger since the last time I saw you. And faster, too."

Ruby looked at her best friend with a big grin, "You got that right. I've improved so much since I got here and I can't wait to show you everything I learned."

Before the two could continue talking, they were interrupted by some yelling. Turning to the sound, they were surprise to see their older siblings cheering at them with large grins on their faces. After a few moments the two realized their position and got off of each other quickly, apologizing to each other profusely in the process.

"I-I'm s-so sorry, Cody," Ruby said, her face very red.

"I-It's o-ok Rubes. D-Don't worry about it," Cody reassured with an equally red face.

"Woo! Go Ruby!" Yang cheered, "Never knew you could be so bold, baby sister! Go for the lips!"

"Haha! Good job, Cody!" Baltazar laughed joyfully, "If you're planning to make out with her, _hermanito_, make it quick! We still have to meet up with Sarah and our parents for the reunion!"

"SHUT UP!" The blushing pair shouted, very embarrassed by their older siblings' suggestions.

"So that's Cody?" Velvet asked in surprise, having heard of him many times by her new friends.

"Yup, that's him alright," Levy giggled, "He's a mechanical genius on like Ruby and can make all sorts of different weapons with ease. In fact the first set of Dust Knives that Baltazar gave me was made by him."

"Those exploding knife bombs were made by that little guy over there?" Dia questioned in surprise, pointing at the young boy who was currently yelling at his laughing older brother.

"He's just that talented," Weiss shrugged and pulled out her Grimm Studies text book. Ignoring the curious looks she was getting, she walked over to where Cody was standing, stood right behind him and swiftly smacked his head with her book, surprising Ruby and Yang and getting a chuckle from Baltazar.

"OW!" Cody shouted as he held his head in pain, "What the hell was that-"

"I've been waiting to do that for a long time now, you little troublemaker," Weiss interrupted with a stern glare.

Cody gulped and turned around nervously to see the white haired girl staring down at him, "Uh…hey there, _hermana_, how have you-"

"Don't _'Hermana' _me, mister!" Weiss cut off, "Don't think I haven't heard of all the pranks you've done since you started Signal."

"Oh come on, Weiss. They weren't that bad," Cody waved off.

Weiss glare became fiercer, "Do I need to remind you of the Senior Prank that you and your little girlfriend over there participated in with your brother and her sister?" She pointed at a blushing Ruby, a sheepish Yang and a grinning Baltazar, "I've already reprimanded them the moment I heard about it and now it's your turn."

"Weiss! Not you, too!" Cody whined, embarrassed again now that his sister figure believed that he was going out with Ruby. It was bad enough that Baltazar and Yang were in on it, he didn't want Weiss to join in on the teasing train.

"Reprimand the young boy another time, Weiss," Ozpin spoke up, "In case you've forgotten, he and Baltazar have to leave now to meet up with their family."

Weiss looked at the teacher in surprise before turning back to Cody, who was still rubbing his head in pain. A moment later she went up and hugged the younger boy, much to the shock of her friends.

"Sorry for hitting you, little brother," Weiss apologized, "But I had to make sure you learned your lesson about pranking others so much."

"Mom and Papi already took care of that, Big Sis, so you're kinda late there," Cody muttered jokingly and hugged Weiss back, "And it's nice to see you again after so long. Two years is a long time, ya know."

"It's nice to see you too," Weiss said quietly as she let go with a small smile on her face. She walked over to her best friend and proceeded to give him a tight hug as well, "Come back safe, you twit. And try not to let your relatives get under your skin too much, ok?"

"I'll try, Weiss," Baltazar whispered, hugging his best friend tightly as well. He ended the hug and turned to his team and Velvet, "You guys take care of yourselves and make sure you treat Velvet nicely, ok?"

"Not a problem Chief," Dia assured as the rest of team BLAD nodded while Velvet smiled at the ninja's kindness.

Baltazar smiled and turned to team JNPR, "I hope you guys will enjoy your trip to Forjador. I know you'll love it. And I promise I'll have your new gloves finished once I get back, Jaune."

"Thanks, Baltazar. I'm sure we'll have fun at your old home," Jaune said.

Happy for the team, Baltazar turned to the rest of team RWBY, "Stay close to Weiss when you're at Forjador, ok? She's visited the city so many times she knows it by heart. If you have any questions, ask her."

"Understood, Baltazar," Blake nodded to her fellow ninja.

"Come on, _hermano_, we have to go," Cody called sadly, wishing he could spend more time with Ruby.

"Oh no you don't," Yang called out as she marched towards Cody. She then proceeded to grab the younger boy and give him a tight bear hug, "You're not going anywhere until you get a hug from your future sister-in-law, got it?"

"Can't Breath! Need Air!" Cody gasped out.

"Déjà vu, anyone?" Baltazar joked as he and the others recalled Yang doing the same thing to the lightning ninja earlier in the week. Soon enough, though, it was time to leave, and the brothers boarded on the jet. Turning back to everyone, Baltazar gave a sad smile and one last wave before the hatch closed and the jet lifted off. As the ship began to fly away, Weiss let out a sad sigh as she began to think of what would happen to her best friend once he's with his relatives.

"Be careful, Baltazar," Weiss said softly.

Inside the plane, Baltazar sat down on a chair with a sad look on his face and his glasses in his hands.

"Why does the reunion have to be in a week…?" Baltazar groaned as he rubbed his eyes, "Couldn't it have been in a month? I really wanted to go to the field trip back home."

"We can't always have what we want, Baltazar, you know that," Cody said as he sat across from his brother, "Isn't that what you told Weiss all the time when we were kids?"

Baltazar gave off a light chuckle, "Good point, Cody. Thanks."

"Don't mention it," Cody waved off before noticing that his brother was still rubbing his eyes, "Are you ok? You're rubbing your eyes a little hard there."

"I'm fine, but my eyes are getting pretty itchy. It'll pass soon, hopefully," Baltazar groaned. He was about to say more when he and his brother began hearing a beeping sound coming from Baltazar's gauntlets. Slightly startled by the sound, Cody was surprised to see his brother activating his gauntlets and pressed a small button on it, activating a small screen that was somehow installed into the gauntlets like a Scroll.

"Since when were you able to turn Gentle Storms into a mini Scroll?" Cody asked.

"I used one of the Scrolls my friend Blake stole from one of Beacon's bullies to upgrade my gloves and give them a Scroll function," Baltazar snickered.

Cody shook his head, "I swear, you come up with the weirdest upgrades sometimes."

"There no weirder that the stuff you made yourself, little brother," Baltazar countered and pointed at the sheathed sword on his brother's back, "Seriously, only you and Ruby could think of making monster weapons like her High Velocity Sniper Scythe and your Retractable Light Machine Claymore, and use them with ease."

"You better not be making fun of Raging Thunder, Baltazar," Cody glared before looking at his brother's gauntlet curiously, "So what made your arm beep? Was it a message or something?"

"A message from Pop," Baltazar confirmed, "Papymon told him the location of the reunion and he just sent me a message telling us where it is."

"Really," Cody asked curiously and walked over to his brother to see the message. After reading the message, both boys became quite irritated, especially Baltazar.

"Oh you got to be freakin' kidding me," Cody groaned.

"We're having our reunion there of all places?!" Baltazar shouted and deactivated his gloves. He growled to himself and turned to his brother, staring at him with angry blue, slit pupil eyes, "You know what, Cody?"

"What?" Cody asked irritably, his own eyes glowing blue with slit pupils like his brother.

"I hate our family sometimes…"

"Me too…"

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

Weiss sighed sadly to herself as she messed with her salad. It's been nearly a week since her best friend left and she had not received any sort of message from him at all. She understood why, though. Because of how big the reunion is, everyone who is able to has to help prepare for it and that takes up a lot of time, but she would've liked to hear from him once in a while.

Currently she is sitting in the cafeteria with her team and the girls of the teams JNPR and BLAD along with Velvet as Yang was telling them a story about a fight she had with a bunch of thugs in a club a while back. Jaune, Ash, and Ren were in team JNPR's room playing poker since everyone will be leaving on Wednesday to Forjador City, the boys' normal poker night.

"…then I noticed that the punk had some of my hair in his hand and had the nerve to look smug about it! I got so angry that I blew up the rest of the dance floor, charged at him and blasted his face with my fist, sending him flying out the window, and surprisingly enough right in front of Ruby's feet." Yang finished her story and was happy that it caught the attention of her friends.

"Wow, Yang, that's amazing," Velvet said in awe, "But I do have one question, what were you doing in a club in the first place?"

"It's a long story," Yang said simply and turned to her team to notice that Weiss was in a depressed state. "Weiss? Are you ok?"

"Huh?" The heiress questioned, brought out of her thoughts by her teammate, "Oh, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Because you seem a little…not…ok," Ruby pointed out.

"Déjà vu version two, everyone," Dia joked, hoping to lighten the mood.

"Weiss, you've been upset like this for nearly a week now, and we're getting worried," Blake said sadly.

"I may not know you that well yet, but I want to help as much as I can," Velvet said.

"If there's something going on, you can tell us," Pyrrha reassured, "We're friends after all."

"Yeah! So tell us what's wrong and stop being so sad," Nora exclaimed, "You're supposed to be excited, not depressed! Our field trip is tomorrow and we're going to have a blast!" She and the others didn't notice Weiss flinching at the mention of the field trip, but one did.

"You're worried about _primo_, aren't you Weiss," Levy said with certainty.

"Is it that obvious?" Weiss asked her old friend, and received a nod in response.

"You're still worried about Sparky, Weiss?" Yang questioned the heiress, "I know you miss him but you don't need to look like the world's going to end. You two spent nearly four years apart, so what's another couple weeks?"

"You don't understand, Yang," Weiss argued, "Baltazar is at a reunion with his family, the ones that ruined his self-esteem and made him doubt himself so much in the first place before he came here and met you and Ruby."

"Didn't he speak highly about his family?" Pyrrha asked.

"Only about his parents and siblings," Weiss explained, "Other than them and a few others, most of Baltazar's extended family ridiculed him because of his 'poor' forging skills and his lack of physical strength and endurance compared to the rest of them."

"'Poor forging'! That's ridiculous!" Ruby yelled, "Bro's works are top of the line! Azure Bolt is the perfect example of it! He also makes his own Dust Knives for himself and Levy too and they're better than the ones that you buy at the store! How can his relatives think he's bad at forging?!"

"It's because he takes too long," Weiss sighed, "Baltazar is very detail oriented when he forges and takes his time with his work so that they're top quality. Unfortunately his relatives thought that he had no idea what he was doing and demeaned him every time he forged to get him to work faster. Then his brother was revealed to be a forging genius that could make high quality weapons in a short amount of time and began to further insult Baltazar by reminding him that his younger brother by three years is a much better forger than he is."

"That's horrible," Pyrrha gasped, "Why would a family do such a thing like that?"

"Because forging is one of the few things that Chief's family takes seriously," Dia explained in a sad tone, remembering what her leader said on the first day of class.

"She's right," Weiss confirmed, "Forging is considered a blood skill among the Azul family and while Baltazar does have the skill, he ironically doesn't have the speed. There's also the fact that Baltazar is also considered the weakest member of his family for many reasons."

"I call Ursa crap on that!" Nora exclaimed angrily, shocking her friends greatly since they never seen Nora so angry or heard her curse before, "There's no way Balty is weak! You all seen what he could do with the training drones and sparing partners he fought. I heard he actually split a King Taijitsu in two back at the Emerald Forest during initiation! How can anyone that strong be called weak?!"

"Seeing that Grimm cut in two showed me how much he improved over the years," Levy recalled, "You're right Nora, he isn't weak, not by a long shot."

"He really did that?!" Velvet exclaimed in surprise, "I heard a rumor about a student splitting a King Taijitsu vertically during initiation, but I didn't know it was him."

"He's weak by his family's standards," Weiss said sadly, "Every huntsman in his family focus on brute strength and power to take down their opponents and they are durable enough to take a lot of hits before going down, even Cody. Baltazar, on the other hand, is not really strong physically, and can't take too much damage before he goes down. Not only that, he doesn't really have the heart to be a huntsman."

"What do you mean he doesn't have the heart?" Blake frowned, "From what I know about him, I have no doubt in my mind that Baltazar has the heart and soul to be a huntsman. How can his family not see that?"

"She means literally, Blake," Levy called out, surprising all her friends besides Weiss, Yang and Ruby, "_Primo_ was born with a heart that, even now, is leaking a little bit of blood from one of his arteries. The leak is very small, small enough that surgery isn't an option, and by itself it's not an issue, but if he gets any sort of infection, the leak will allow it to spread faster than normal and seriously put his life in danger. The leak also makes him more vulnerable to poisons as well."

"It's not that much of an issue anymore, thankfully, due to his stronger immune system," Weiss continued on for Levy, "But he's still quite vulnerable to poisons and infections even now. While he won't be on death's door, he'll be very sick for a while unless the infections or poisons are dangerous."

"I remember him telling me that shortly after we were assigned as partners back at Signal and started sharing a dorm," Yang muttered, "He had some heart medication stored in his desk and told me to force some into him if something were to happen to him because of his heart. Thankfully that never happened, but knowing how fragile Sparky still scares me sometimes."

"So Chief has been ridiculed by his family for years because he's considered a weak outcast?" Dia asked angrily.

"That's one way to put it," Weiss nodded before smiling, gaining strange looks from her friends, "Though it always amazes me that despite everything he's been through, he has never given up on his dream to become a huntsman. Eventually that dream became a promise to his late trainer and grandfather, Mr. Morado, and worked himself to the bone to get to where he is now."

"Morado?" Dia asked curiously, looking at Levy, who nodded.

"He's my grandfather, too." Levy confirmed, "Baltazar's mom and my Papi are siblings and their father was Luis Morado, a lightning element Speed Semblance huntsman with expert level skills in knife handling and close combat. My knives, Flujo and Reflujo, along with Baltazar's gauntlets, Gentle Storms, were originally his before he gave them to us."

"That explains why he was an instructor here for a while," Pyrrha mused.

"Sparky's pretty stubborn sometimes, isn't he Weiss," Yang smiled, bring the others back to their topic.

"Very stubborn, Yang," Weiss nodded, "And he's able to accomplish so much on his own and almost no one in his family took note of them until after he moved here. His activation of his aura and semblance at seven, his ability to enhance and modify weapons to preform feats that no one ever thought of, his high affinity for lightning, which stems from both sides of his families, even his high speed, all of those were not noticed until he moved away and they finally realized his abilities."

"They never knew his potential until he left, and now they most likely regret demeaning him all these years," Blake summarized.

"Most of them do," Weiss confirmed, "Some of them already apologized for their actions, mainly his first cousins, but there are some who still think of him as the weak link of the family. What always amazes me is that even after they've done to him, he still has the heart to forgive him. Whenever I ask him why, he would always say that they're family, and while he can't pick them, he'll always forgive and protect them, no matter what they do or say about him."

"We got ourselves such a kind hearted leader, don't we Levy," Dia grinned to her teammate.

"Immensely kind, Dia," Levy agreed.

"I'm happy to be assigned to this team with such a leader, even if it is temporary," Velvet smiled.

"That kindness is one of the many things that I love about him so much," Weiss sighed happily, unaware of the growing grins on her friends so much. "He's kind, friendly to others and always willing to do whatever it takes to make his friends and family happy and safe. He has his faults, I won't lie. He's a flighty gullible dolt, still has some self-confidence issues and can be easily annoyed at times, not to mention obsessed with pizza and videogames and is more than willing to have a lazy day to just lie around and do nothing. Even with all his faults, I can't help but like him so much. He's my best friend and I can't imagine my life without him."

Weiss got up from her seat, turned to Ruby and Yang, brought them closer to each other and hugged them both, surprising the sisters, "I never got a chance to say this, but thank you two so much for looking after Baltazar and changing him for the better. He's become happier and more outgoing ever since he befriended you two and I'm very grateful for that. You treat him like he's your twin Yang and you see him as a big brother, Ruby. I'll probably never be able to repay you two for everything, but I will try my hardest."

"You don't have to do anything to repay us Weiss," Ruby said as she hugged her partner, "We were happy to be friends with Bro. We had all sorts of fun together and made so many awesome memories. We just wanted him to be happy, just like how you make him happy."

"I made the decision of befriending Sparky and I don't regret it for a moment," Yang smiled as she and her sister ended the hug, "Sure he may have been shy and quiet at first, but in the end, he's become one of my best friends and an awesome brother to Ruby, something that I've always wanted her to have in her life." Her smile turned mischievous, "Although…if you do want to repay us, I have just the thing that will work."

Weiss became a little afraid of Yang's smile and spoke cautiously, "And…what will that be?"

"That you stop beating around the bush, tell Sparky you love him, and freaking make out with him already!" Yang exclaimed, greatly embarrassing her white haired teammate, "Seriously, your feelings for him are more obvious than a Nevermore in a giant white room!"

"What!" The blushing heiress screamed, "I don't love Baltazar! Not like that!"

"Weiss, it's obvious to everyone but Bro himself that you're in love with him, just admit it," Ruby sighed.

"I noticed that the moment I first saw you two after the exploding Dust incident back on the day we came to Beacon. To me, it looked like you were a couple having a small disagreement," Blake mentioned.

"I noticed it when you were trying to reassure him about becoming a leader back in the locker room before initiation," Pyrrha brought up, "And Jaune said that he realized it when he saw you two during the meeting on the first day of school."

"I found out by watching you two last week when Baltazar left," Velvet confessed, "I was actually surprised when Ash told me the two of you were not dating. The way you two act around each other made me think you were together."

"No, I can't be in love with him," Weiss denied, "He's my best friend. I can't be in love with my best friend. It'll be too weird."

"I'm in love with Ren and he's my best friend," Nora admitted, "And I plan to tell him about it soon. I'm just waiting for the best time to tell him."

"And my parents are childhood friends just like you and Chief are. They're happily married and have been for over twenty years, now," Dia said.

"B-B-But," Weiss was beginning to get more flustered and was about to argue again when Levy spoke up.

"Will you stop lying to yourself, Weiss?!" Levy's angry tone surprised all her friends, as they rarely ever seen her irritated, let alone angry, "I've known you for years and I know for certain that you are in love with Baltazar. You fell for him just before he moved and you had yet to fully realize it even now. You kept thinking that it wouldn't work because you're afraid to lose your friendship with him. Well I can honestly say that it won't happen. He cares about you too much to end your friendship over something like this. In fact I think he'll be ecstatic if he learned that you love him."

"How can you be sure, Lavanda?" Weiss whispered sadly.

"You said so yourself when you were talking to Pyrrha about her ring," Levy explained and pointed at Weiss's necklace, "Custom made tracker objects are rare and if someone makes one and gives it to you, it means that they care about you a lot and want to be with you. Yang was being serious when she pointed that out to you two, even if she was teasing," The revelation made Weiss's eyes widen in shock, "You probably thought that the necklace was a quick job and thought nothing of it, since tracker objects are one of the few things _primo_ can make quickly and easily, but did you know he worked on yours for nearly two months?"

"Two months!" Weiss repeated in surprise.

"He wanted it to be made perfectly for you, so he took his time to make it right," Levy confirmed, "Unlike other trackers he made, yours has a wider signal range so he'll be able to know where you are from farther distances. You don't even need to channel any aura for him to find you either, because it already has some of your aura stored in from when he helped you make his snowflake tracker necklace. It also has a distress sensor, so if you're in trouble and low on aura, it will automatically send the signal to him and he'll rush to you right away. And you already know about the indicator he added in to let you know that he's close by."

Weiss nodded and held her necklace tightly, remembering how often it glowed to indicate that her best friend was close by. When she thought about it, she realized that whenever she was happiest, it was when Baltazar was around. He cheered her up when she was upset, supported her when she wanted to become a huntress, played all sorts of songs for her whenever she asked, and so much more. The more happy memories she thought of with him, the more she realized that the others were right. She sighed in defeat and tried her hardest to ignore the excited looks on her friends' faces.

"Well what do you know… you guys are right. I am in love with my best friend," Weiss admitted in a defeated tone, but no one could miss the fond smile on her face.

"Hallelujah! She admits it!" Ruby cheered.

"Admitting it is the first step," Nora said in a sage like tone that, to the others, sounded strange coming from her, "Now the next step will be confessing her feelings to him, the same step I'm in now."

"Oh that's an excellent idea, Nora!" Dia exclaimed and turned to her blushing friend, "So when are you going to tell Chief how you feel about him?"

"…I'm not sure," Weiss admitted softly, "I just found out that I'm in love with my best friend. Do I have to tell him so soon?"

"It's best to do it as soon as possible, Weiss," Pyrrha said, "If not, then there's a chance that someone might take him from you."

"Don't even joke about that, Pyrrha!" Weiss exclaimed angrily.

"Relax, Weiss," Levy reassured, "I don't think there's anyone who has a better chance of getting _primo's_ attention than you. But it is a good idea to let him know soon."

"…I'll think about it," Weiss muttered and left the cafeteria to plan about how to confess her feelings to Baltazar.

"She has it bad for Sparky and finally admits it to herself," Yang mused and leaned back on her chair, "Now all we have to do is wait for the fireworks."

"Will it be ok with you if they get together so soon?" Dia asked as she brought out a small notebook and flipped through it a little, "You put in that they'll get together some time after midterms, which is still a month away."

"I don't care anymore, I just want to see those two together soon," Yang sighed and looked to where Weiss took off, "Those two are practically made for each other and it's getting frustrating to see them so oblivious to one another. I just want Sparky to be happy and he's happiest with Weiss around and vice versa. If there's anyone who deserves to be with one another it's them."

"Wait…you all bet on when they will get together?" Velvet asked, looking at her new friends curiously.

"That they did…" Pyrrha grumbled, remembering that everyone bet on when she and Jaune would get together. At least the money went to her fellow Sanctum graduate, so it wasn't that bad.

"Didn't you bet on Balty and Weiss getting together as soon as you heard about it from Jaune? I think you put money on sometime during the Vytal Festival, right?" Nora questioned, making Pyrrha blush a little in embarrassment.

"It's all in good fun, Velvet, don't worry about it," Levy reassured as she got up, "Well, I think it's best for us to head back to our dorms. The field trip is tomorrow and we need our rest if we're going to enjoy it properly."

"Good idea, Levy," Ruby nodded as she and the rest of the girls got up as well, "We should head back. I for one can't wait to go to Forjador City tomorrow."

"You're not the only one, Ruby," Blake smiled at her leader.

"Oh, I wonder what's going to happen once we get there," Nora wondered to herself.

"I doubt that it'll be anything crazy like what happened in Forever Fall with Jaune and team CRDL," Dia shrugged her shoulders as she and her friends left the cafeteria, "I mean, really? What could happen?"

Authors note: Well…that was part of a thing. Originally this was going to be much longer and included the field trip, but it started to get too big for my tastes so I ended the chapter here. Chapter 7 is currently in the works and is actually almost done. I planned to release this along with chapter 7 as a double update, but I didn't want to hold on to this chapter any longer and decided to let you all enjoy it as I finish the next chapter. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. My favorite parts have to be where Yang was shaking Baltazar like a rag doll and Little Weiss and Little Baltazar's game of verbal tennis in the flashback. Expect Chapter 7 to come out sometime either tomorrow or Sunday. See you all really soon.

Translations:

Veo las estrellas y las notas de música: I see stars and music notes  
Hijo: Son  
Hermano/Hermana/Hermanito: Brother/Sister/Little brother


	7. The City of Craftsmen

Welcome everyone, Black Fuego here with a special double update of The BLAD of RWBY and JNPR! Originally this was going to be only one chapter, but by the time I was nearly done with it, I hit past 100 pages, so I thought it would be best to split this chapter into two so it wouldn't be too much for you guys to read. This half will introduce Forjador City: The City of Craftsmen and the home of Levy and Baltazar, and will introduce a few new characters in the mix. I hope you all enjoy the double update! Happy reading!

Disclaimer: I don't one the RWBY series or any references made in this story. All I own is this imaginary city that I wish was real…or at least a couple of the stores that are mentioned here.

"Hi" Talking  
_"Hi"_ Thinking  
_'Hi'/Hi _Memory and/or Flash Back  
'Hi' Reading  
_"__Hola__"_ Different language

The BLAD of RWBY and JNPR Chapter 7: The City of Craftsmen: Reunions and Revelations

"Ok, everyone, I hope you are all prepared, because we are about to leave for Forjador City in just a few short minutes," Glynda announced to her students.

It was the day of the class trip and everyone was excited to go. Teams RWBY, JNPR, CRDL and BLAD were the teams that were selected to go on the field trip to Forjador City and they couldn't be any happier. Their chaperones for the trip were Professors Goodwitch, Port and Doctor Oobleck. Even Headmaster Ozpin was going to attend the trip as a chaperone as well, his reason being that he wanted to visit some old friends and thought that now would be a good time to do so, much to his students' confusion.

"Now, before we board the airship, are there any questions you students like to ask?" Glynda questioned politely.

"I have one, mam," Cardin spoke up and pointed at team BLAD, which currently had its leader missing and replaced with a timid Rabbit Faunus, "Where's Azul? Shouldn't he be here with his team instead of the Faunus girl?"

"Mr. Azul is currently away, Mr. Winchester," Dr. Oobleck answered for Glynda, unamused by Cardin's way of talking about Velvet, "He has left last week for a meeting with his extended family and will not be able to return to Beacon until the end of the week, when we return from the trip."

"Well…what about the report?" Cardin continued to question, "Professor Goodwitch told us that we have to write a report on a significant place in Forjador City. Does that mean he's allowed to skip it?"

"He's already done it, lad," Peter spoke this time and pulled out a fairly large report, much to the surprise of most of the students, "Mr. Azul has written a well thought out and detailed report on one of the most important structures in Forjador City; the Azure Armory Weapons Factory. I for one am quite surprised by how much information he had on the armory and the little details he pointed out."

"It is most likely because he is from Forjador City, Peter," Glynda pointed out, "I for one am not surprised by how informational Mr. Azul's report is. While he has not been there for a long time, he is still quite familiar with his old home and still very knowledgeable of the place, especially Azure Armory Inc."

"_You have no idea how knowledgeable he is about the armory, mam,"_ Weiss thought somewhat smugly, fully aware of the connections her best friend had, and still has, with the weapons company.

"Now then, are there any more questions before we head out?" Glynda asked one more time and saw a hand raised, "Yes, Mr. Arc?"

"Are we going to have guides for the trip?" Jaune asked politely, "I know that there are a couple of us that know the city pretty well, but what about the rest of us?"

"Excellent question, Jaune," Ozpin smiled and took a drink from his cup, "For this trip, we will be having a couple of guides that will be giving us a tour around the city for the first day. While we instructors have been to Forjador City many times in the past, I'm afraid that we may not be of much help guiding you because of how much it has changed over the years. Because of that, teams JNPR and Dr. Oobleck, and CRDL and Prof. Port will be given tour guides for our time in the City of Craftsmen."

"Why only our teams, sir?" Lark asked, curious as to why teams RWBY and BLAD won't be getting any guides.

"Because the other teams already have their own personal guides," Ozpin explained, "Weiss Schnee of team RWBY and Lavanda Morado of team BLAD are both very familiar with Forjador City, since one is a frequent visitor and the other is a former resident. I will be watching over team RWBY while Prof. Goodwitch will be chaperoning team BLAD, and we expect them to give us a grand tour around the city."

"Not a problem, sir," Levy replied as Weiss nodded in agreement.

"Excellent," Glynda smiled, "Now that that's out of the way, everyone board the airship. If any of you have motion sickness, I suggest you take your medication now. While the flight to Forjador City is not very long, I do not wish to see vomit on the ship's carpet again."

Jaune laughed sheepishly and Yang gave the blonde an annoyed glance as they boarded the ship. Before Weiss went inside, she paused and stared up towards the sky.

"I hope you're doing fine, Baltazar," The Heiress whispered to herself, "Please come back soon. I have something very important to tell you, something that I have no idea how you'll respond."

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

"Welcome everyone to Forjador City! I hope you all will enjoy your stay here and have a wonderful time!" The flight attendant smiled as everyone got off the airship and stared at the sight.

Many gasps were heard from the students as they saw the city. It was a big industrial city with all sorts of buildings and stores to be seen. From where they were standing, the students were able to make out a large factory off to the side, most likely the Azure Armory Inc. Main Factory, a large stadium that appeared to be used for games and tournaments, and the city's minor combat school, Salvation Academy. The streets were very decorated, with streamers and banners covering the entire city, as if celebrating the arrival of some important figures.

"Wow…this place looks amazing!" Ruby exclaimed cheerfully.

"You can say that again, Ruby," Jaune muttered in awe.

"Now this is one awesome looking place," Cardin grinned.

"It's good to be home," Levy sighed happily.

Weiss had a fond smile on her face as she stared at the city, memories of her and Baltazar exploring the streets and walking around the Crafter's Market flooding in her head. Her only regret was that her best friend wasn't here to see this place. It was his home after all, a home that he hasn't seen in nearly four years.

"What's with all the decorations?" Nora asked excitedly, "Is there a festival going on today or something?"

"I'm not sure, actually," Levy admitted as she took note of all the different decorations around the streets, "Normally I would say that this is the Founders' Day event that happens every year, but I've never seen it so festive before."

"That is because it's not the typical Founders' Day event you're familiar with, Lavanda," Ozpin explained, "This is the All Founders' Festival, a special event that only happens once every fifteen years. This is a rare event that celebrates the founding of Forjador City in a way that few cities do even now."

"And what is that, sir?" Velvet asked timidly.

"By celebrating the return of the founders of Forjador City," Ozpin answered, shocking his students, even those who are familiar with Forjador, "There are a total of four families that are direct decedents to the founders of Forjador City, who built this city shortly after the Grimm War. All of them were skilled craftsmen and huntsmen in their own rights. Shortly after the city was made, three of the founders ventured off to explore more of Vytal, but one founder decided to stay and protect the city. Before departing, the four founders promised to come back with their families to this city in fifteen years to see how it has progressed. After the first reunion, however, one of the founders returned and decided to start a family alongside the other founder and together they made the city prosper and safe from the Grimm, with one founder fighting the Grimm and the other creating the weapons to defeat them."

"Holy crap that is awesome!" Russel exclaimed.

"That is impressive," Pyrrha commented. Before she could say any more, the group of students and instructors heard a voice calling out to them, and turned to see a couple of teenagers running towards them. One was a young girl around the students' age with short, plum red hair that covered her ears, red eyes, a couple small fangs in her mouth, and what appears to be a police uniform, with a blue suit shirt, red tie and matching pants with a badge with a red cross symbol with bat wings coming out of it on her chest. The other was a young man a year or two older than the students with messy brunette hair, green eyes and a white dress shirt and tan pants with a symbol of a shield with a heart in the center of it on the sleeves of his shirt.

"Hello everyone," The man greeted the Beacon students, "My name is Aiuto Ivory, and this is my friend, Kira Maroon," He gestured to the young red head who smiled and waved enthusiastically to the others, "We would like to welcome you all to Forjador City and hope you all enjoy the True Founders' Day Festival."

"We have a lot to show you all today, so let's not waste any more time," Kira continued for Aiuto, "Now, we've been told that there were a couple…of…you…" Kira trailed off as she looked over the Beacon students.

"Kira? Are you ok?" Aiuto asked worriedly.

"Hey, Levs, what's wrong?" Ash asked his teammate, wondering why she was a still as a statue at the moment.

"Weiss? What's the matter?" Ruby questioned worriedly once she saw the stunned look on her partner's face.

"Oh…" Weiss began.

"My…" Levy continued with a growing smile on her face.

"Gosh!" Kira finished with an excited yell as Levy and Weiss ran towards her and hugged the guide tightly.

"…Eh?" Was the response of nearly everybody in the vicinity, even Aiuto.

Ozpin on the other hand just let off a small chuckle, "Well it seems like some old friends have been reunited after quite some time."

Oh my gosh, it's been so long you two!" Kira squealed as she continued to hug her old fiends tightly.

"It's only been a few months for me, Kira, but it has been a long time since you've seen Weiss," Levy laughed as she and Weiss ended the hug.

"Wait…Weiss? Weiss Schnee?" Aiuto repeated slowly as he looked at the white haired girl in surprise before a big grin lit up his face. "Holy Mother of God, it is Weiss!"

"It's nice to see you too, Aiuto," Weiss smiled at the surprised brunette, "How long has it been since we've seen each other?"

"Just over four years if I remember right, when I came here with my folks to visit Baltazar's grandparents," Aiuto recalled, "I remember you always sticking close to him because of how nervous he was around crowds and you didn't leave his side at all except for the obvious bathroom breaks."

"I found it sweet that you two were able to meet up again," Kira smiled to Weiss, "He told us all about what went on at Beacon and how much fun he had since he started there. Talking about you and his friends was one of the only things that got him to smile since he returned here last week."

"What!" Teams RWBY, JNPR and BLAD, minus Velvet, shouted in surprise, while the instructors raised an eyebrow and team CRDL remained silent and confused.

"Baltazar's been here the whole time!" Yang and Ruby shouted together.

"Well this is a surprise," Blake commented dryly.

"Why didn't Balty say he was going to come here?" Nora whined.

"Because he didn't know he'd be here, remember," Ren pointed out.

"He's right, Nora," Pyrrha nodded, "Baltazar said that he wouldn't know where his family's reunion would be held until he met up with his parents and sister."

"I never would've guessed he'd come here of all places," Jaune mused, "And he really wanted to come here with us, too."

"Anyone else find this either funny or ironic?" Ash joked weakly.

"I'm leaning towards ironic myself," Dia joked back.

"Wait…you all know Baltazar?" Kira asked curiously.

"They must be the friends that he was talking about," Aiuto guessed.

"We're his friends," Ruby confirmed, "My name is Ruby Rose, leader of team RWBY." She gestured to her teammates, "These are my teammates; Blake Belladonna and my sister Yang Xiao Long. Weiss is also in my team, but you already know all about her."

"Hey," Blake waved.

"What's up?" Yang grinned.

"My name's Jaune Arc, leader of team JNPR," Jaune introduced himself and gestured to his team also, "And this is my team; Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, and Lie Ren."

"Hi there!" Nora cheered.

"It's nice to meet you two," Pyrrha bowed.

"Hello," Ren said simply with a smile on his face.

"The name's Ash Yasur and this here is my partner Dia Adamas," Ash pointed to himself and his partner.

"We're part of team BLAD along with Levy and Baltazar. Baltazar is our team leader, or as I like to call him, Chief," Dia explained happily.

"Baltazar's leading a team?!" Kira and Aiuto shouted in disbelief.

"Yes, he's leading our team. Is there something wrong with that, dudes?" Ash asked in a somewhat angry and protective tone.

"No, not at all!" Aiuto assured, "We just never thought he'd be ok with actually leading a team. The guy always considered himself more of a follower than a leader."

"He's been holding out on us," Kira pouted, "I know he's been busy this past week and can't talk to us often, but would it kill him to tell us that he was leading a team."

"Well you know how modest he is sometimes," Levy laughed sheepishly. She was about to say something else when she noticed Weiss looking at the factory with a frown on her face, "Weiss? Is there something wrong?"

Weiss said nothing for a moment before sighing and turning to her old friends, "Baltazar's in a bad mood right now, isn't he."

"You can tell?" Aiuto asked in surprise.

"I'm not surprised," Kira smiled, "Even being separated for so long hasn't stopped your ability to tell how Baltazar's feeling at the moment."

Weiss shrugged, "Well I did had a few months to get reacquainted with him, not to mention you hinted as much when you said that he hasn't smiled much since he came here except when he talked about us."

"Why is Bro in a bad mood, Weiss?" Ruby asked, not noticing Kira's or Aiuto's curious looks towards her for the title of their friend.

"He's upset with his family because they dragged him here early and most likely knew that we were coming as well. He was essentially forced to come here without us and I bet even now he's too busy with family matters to be able to visit us," Weiss explained with a sad tone.

"Busy doesn't even begin to describe it, Weiss," Kira said, "His family is one of the biggest contributors to the All Founders' Festival along with mine, so we've been running around like crazy trying to get everything set up. It broke Baltazar's heart a little when he was told he wasn't going to welcome guests here to Forjador, but he couldn't really argue with the decision, since he's still a little nervous around large crowds."

"The moment he returns and they already start using him like a servant," Weiss growled angrily before calming herself down, "Next time I see his relatives, they're going to wish they never saw me. I hope we get to see Baltazar soon when he's not busy. There's something important that I have to tell him." She finished with a light blush on her face.

"Oho, looks like someone's ready to admit her feelings to her best friend," Aiuto teased with a large grin on his face.

"You're finally going to tell him?!" Kira asked excitedly, "Oh that's so adorable! I've been waiting for this for years now and it's finally happening!"

"Ok, seriously? You guys knew how I felt about my dolt of a best friend too?" Weiss asked exasperatedly, a brighter blush now on her face, "I mean, really, I didn't know I was in love with him until yesterday and now I'm finding out that everyone I know knew how I felt before I did? Were my feelings for Baltazar that obvious to you all?"

"Yes," Everyone responded easily, even the instructors and team CRDL.

"The way you act around Mr. Azul sometimes reminds me very much like a young maiden in love, Ms. Schnee," Peter said, with his colleagues nodding in agreement.

"We knew about it since initiation day, because of the way you were looking at him in the locker room and when you clung to him when Yasur dropped his weapon. It was kinda obvious" Cardin stated.

"Weiss, I think everyone in Forjador knew how you feel about _primo_," Levy said to the very embarrassed heiress, "You'd be surprised by how fast news travels here despite being such a big city."

"Ok now, I believe we should stop before poor Ms. Schnee either faints or lashes out on us in embarrassment," Dr. Oobleck chuckled.

"Indeed, Doctor," Glynda nodded before turning to the young guides, "If you two would be so kind, may you please show teams JNPR and CRDL around the city with their chaperones?"

"Only if I'm with the guy with the awesome mustache," Aiuto requested as he pointed at Peter.

"Deal," Ozpin smiled as Peter laughed heartedly.

"Ah, it's nice to see another youthful lad showing an interest in mustaches such as my own," Peter said after he calmed down.

"Oh dear lord, not again," Weiss groaned while palming her face.

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD

"Wow…so this is a minor combat school," Jaune muttered as he and his team followed Kira and Dr. Oobleck. Team JNPR was exploring the halls of the minor combat school Sanctuary, which seemed just as spacious as Beacon.

"Amazing place, isn't it?" Kira grinned, "Sanctuary may be just a minor school, but it has produced some great hunters to be that were more than ready to handle the major schools like Beacon. I'm in my last year and I'm hoping to get into Beacon myself when I graduate. Levy's a graduate here and Baltazar studied here for a few months before he was transferred to Signal."

"Did someone say Baltazar?" A feminine voice asked.

The group turned to see a young woman approaching them with long black hair in a ponytail like Pyrrha, light brown eyes with slit pupils and a bluish-white suit with a knee high skirt and heels walking towards them with a bright smile on her face, which had a small fang coming out of it.

"Mrs. Bishop! It's good to see you," Kira greeted.

"Kira, how many times do I have to tell you? Just call me Blanca. We're practically family after all," Blanca sighed in an exasperated yet fond tone, "Now, did I hear someone say something about my brother or my nephew? It's hard to tell who's who if I only hear their first name."

"I believe she is talking about your nephew, Mrs. Bishop," Dr. Oobleck answered politely as his students' eyes went wide in surprise and held out his hand. "My name is Dr. Bartholomew Oobleck, Beacon Academy's Vytal History instructor. Behind me are a few of my students; Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos and Lie Ren of Team JNPR. You're nephew Baltazar is friends with these future hunters and is also one of my students, one of my bests besides Ms. Schnee and Ms. Nikos, even if he does sleep in class sometimes."

"Oh my, he still does that?" Blanca giggled as she shook the doctor's hand, "He's always had a habit of sleeping wherever he wants when he's tired, just like his father. My name is Professor Blanca Bishop. I teach Weapons Forging here in Sanctuary and help out with the technology crew over at Azure Armory Inc.'s Main Weapons Factory from time to time."

"Weapons Forging?" Pyrrha repeated as she thought, _"Is she part of the Azul family? Weiss did say they were a family of forgers."_

"That's right," Blanca nodded, "As a member of the Azul family, forging is in our blood. After I had my first child and had to retire from being a huntress, I thought it would be a good idea to go into teaching, and the only position they had at the time was forging. It's only my second year here as an instructor, but I feel like I'm making a difference in the lives of my students."

"It's a wonderful feeling, isn't it mam? Dr. Oobleck smiled.

As the two instructors continued to talk, Ren noticed something off in the distance. To his surprise, he saw Baltazar talking to an instructor with an older man standing beside him. What surprised Ren, however, was the fact that the older man looked exactly like his friend. He had the same hair color and style as his friend and even wore glasses like him. He did notice that his eyes were more of a golden brown compared to Baltazar's darker brown eyes and that the man's pupils were slit.

"_His pupils…" _Ren thought, _"They're like how Baltazar's pupils become when he's fighting, except they're brown instead of blue…just like Professor Bishop here. The man looks like an older version of Baltazar as well. Is that his father?"_

Ren continued to stare at the man next to Baltazar until the two of them walked away with the other instructor.

"Ren?" Nora asked worriedly, "Are you ok?"

"Did you see something strange?" Jaune questioned.

"I believe so…" Ren muttered, before he shook his head "Don't worry about it you guys. I'll figure it out eventually."

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

"Why the hell are we here?" Cardin complained as he stared at some cloth on a shelf.

"You can thank your professor for that," Aiuto chuckled, "He was the one who wanted to know if our city still had a textile shop for some reason."

Team CRDL, Peter, and Aiuto were in a store named Arashi Textiles in the Crafter's Market at Peter's request. Apparently the retired huntsman was curious if there was a textile shop and wanted to visit there.

"I wished to see if this store was still here, Mr. Winchester," Peter explained as he held a violet scarf, "I use to come here often during my visits to Forjador City as a young lad. I was friends with the son of the previous owner and I had quite a wonderful time here. He even asked me to help him win the heart of the love of his life, who is now happily married with her with a child around Mr. Ivory's age."

"And it's quite nice to see you again, Peter," A silver haired middle age woman smiled behind the counter, "I wish Kumo was here, but he's out with Malcom at the moment."

"Ah…Malcom Maroon," Peter sighed in remembrance, "I remember him being quite a troublemaker alongside Bo and Kalt. I never would have thought that such a rambunctious young man like him would have ended up becoming a powerful huntsman, let alone the Chief of Police of Forjador City."

"Isn't Maroon the last name of that Kira girl that's showing Jaune's team around the city?" Dove whispered to his leader.

"I think so," Cardin whispered back, "That would explain why she's in a police uniform."

"Hey Mom, we have customers?" A male voice called out from outside the shop.

Everyone in the shop turned to see a young man around Aiuto's age entering the shop. The young man had black hair with blue highlights, blue eyes and a black shirt with black pants. What surprised team CRDL, however, was that the teen was in a wheelchair. Aiuto, however, simply smiled at the newcomer.

"Hey, Raiga, what's up?" Aiuto greeted.

"Oh hey, Aiuto!" Raiga smiled, "Giving tours to visitors again?"

Before Aiuto could give a response, he was interrupted by Russel walking towards Raiga.

"Dude, what happened? Why are you in a wheelchair?" The mohawk teen asked rudely, only to receive a smack to the back to the head by his leader.

"What the hell, man?" Cardin questioned with a glare, "That is not something you should ask someone. Think about what you're going to say before you say it, you idiot."

"Although a bit crass, your leader does make an excellent point Mr. Thrush," Peter agreed with a stern tone, "You have to be more considerate to other people's feelings, otherwise you will most likely not receive any sympathy if you somehow ended up in a similar situation."

"Ah don't worry about it," Raiga waved off, "I've heard that question so many times it doesn't really bother me anymore. Besides, the reason I can't use my legs is because I risked my life to save a friend from a pack of Beowolves over at Forever Fall forest, who in turn protected me until his grandpa came and rescue us, and that is something I'll never regret."

"Wow," Lark whistled, "Getting yourself paralyzed from the waist down in order to save a friend? I can't tell if that's either really brave or really stupid." Lark's comment gave him a few glares from his leader, professor and especially Raiga's mother.

"A little bit of both if I'm honest," Raiga admitted sheepishly, "I may not be able to become a huntsman anymore, but my actions did help unlock my friend's potential into becoming one himself. I gave him my weapon as a present for protecting me, but it broke shortly after it touched his hands again. I was quite upset when it happened, but he reassured me that he'll get it fixed eventually." He chuckled softly, "Imagine my surprise when he showed up last week and showed me that instead of repairing it, he re-forged it and made it even better. I guess the Azul forging blood really does run through his veins."

"Azul? You mean Baltazar Azul? That lightning using speed demon of a ninja that can turn invisible sometimes?" Dove asked.

"You know him?" Raiga questioned in surprise.

"They are his classmates while I am one of his professors," Peter gestured to team CRDL before introducing himself. "My name is Professor Peter Port, the Grimm Studies instructor at Beacon Academy and a friend of your parents, especially your father."

"Holy crap, that's awesome!" Raiga exclaimed happily, "You're one of dad's friends and my old buddy's instructor?"

"I had no idea little Baltazar was even attending Beacon Academy," Mrs. Arashi said in surprise, "I guess I shouldn't be all that surprised, seeing that his father was a student there a long time ago."

"Mr. Azul is quite a kind hearted student, although he does have his own quirks," Peter said as he began explaining to the Arashis about the lightning ninja.

Becoming increasingly bored, Cardin looked out the window and his eyes widened in surprise to see the very ninja his professor was talking about now, carrying a large box full of metal objects along-side a kid around Ruby's age in a blue hoodie, also carrying a box of metal things, while following an old man with a cowboy hat and sunglasses on. What surprised Cardin, however, was the very irritated look on the boys' faces, especially his classmate's.

"_I wonder what that old man did to piss Azul off,"_ Cardin thought curiously, _"Other than a few exceptions, Azul's usually a pretty friendly guy and even offers us a helping hand every once in a while. Whatever that guy did, I hope he's ready to get himself electrocuted. Azul is not afraid to shock even his own friends if he's irritated enough, like he did that Yang girl a while back."_

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

"This is quite an interesting stop for us, Ms. Morado," Glynda stated in an amused tone.

"I know, but there's someone I want you all to meet and he's always here," Levy confessed with a grin on her face.

The leaderless team BLAD, Velvet and Glynda found themselves in Forjador City Police Department thanks to their personal tour guide, Levy. The medic insisted on coming to the police station as one of their stops and was quite excited when her chaperone gave her permission to take her team there.

"I got to say, this is one cool looking place here, Levs," Ash said with a smile on his face, "I take it you came here often as a kid, eh?"

"Yup," Levy answered happily, "When I'm not with Weiss, _primo_ or one of my other cousins, I'm usually here in the station with Kira or one of my siblings. We had all sorts of fun here."

"How were you able to come here so often without being in trouble?" Velvet asked curiously.

"It helped that her friend's father is the Chief of Police and her own father is a very respectable member of the force," A strong male voice coming from further inside station.

The team and Glynda turned to see a couple police officers coming towards them. One officer had short, dark brown hair with brown eyes and a kind smile on his face, while the other officer had sleek black hair with amber eyes, a mustache and goatee, also with a smile on his face. What was strange about the black haired man was that his ears were pointed, the fangs in his mouth, and that he was wearing a high collar cloak with the same winged cross symbol the police had on their badges on the back of the cloak.

Glynda looked at the approaching officers with an amused look on her face, "Well now, isn't this a surprise. It's nice to see you two again, Malcom, Leon. How is life as huntsmen turned officers treating you two."

"Our lives are going fairly well actually," Malcom smiled as Leon walked over to Levy, "My life has become a bit easier since I became the Chief of Police, since I can spend more time with my kids, so I can't complain."

"You're just happy that you're able to spend more time with your daughters now, you crazy bat," Leon joked before he went to hug Levy, "Although I don't blame you one bit for wanting that. I just wish I could do the same with my kids, but all of them have left the nest to live their own lives, even my precious little flower here."

"Oh, Papi…" Levy sighed somewhat exasperatedly, but she couldn't remove the smile on her face.

"This person's you dad, Levy?" Dia asked as Leon ended the hug.

"That's right," Leon smiled, "My name is Leon Morado, little Lavanda's father," He gestured to the man talking to Glynda, "That there is my boss, the Chief of Police, and a former teammate of my youngest _cuñado_, Malcom Maroon."

"Well hello," Malcom smiled to the students, "It's nice to meet all of you."

"Nice to meet you, too, sir," Ash grinned, "Nice cloak, by the way. Reminds me of our leader's trench coat a little. And I like the pointy ears, too. Makes you look exotic."

"Why thank you young man," Malcom chuckled, "I'm sure your leader has an excellent taste in clothing, and my ears are indeed quite exotic. After all, there are not many Bat Faunus I know that possess ears like mine outside my family."

"You're a Faunus, sir?" Velvet asked in surprise, since the officer didn't have any noticeable animal traits like her long rabbit ears.

"Indeed," Malcom nodded, "You'd be surprise how many Faunus there are in Remnant that don't have animal appendages such as yours. All of you have met my oldest daughter Kira, right? She is also a Bat Faunus, but her animal traits are her simply her fangs, eyes, and ears, but her ears are always covered by her hair, just like mother.

"Sounds like Chief Kurama back at the village," Dia muttered to herself, before noticing the strange looks her friends were giving her. "Oh, the leader of my village is a Fox Faunus who's only animal traits are these whisker marks on his face and the slit pupils in his eyes. His whisker marks get darker if he's using a lot of aura, but other than that, he looks just like a regular human."

"Wow…I never knew that," Velvet muttered to herself, surprised that there are Faunus in the world who had less noticeable animal traits like Chief Malcom and Kira.

"I'm not surprised," Glynda smiled, "It's not a very well-known fact outside of the Faunus community, and even then there are not many Faunus who are aware of this. Dr. Oobleck himself wasn't aware of the fact either until he came here to Forjador City, where he learned that two of the founders of this city were Faunus of that category."

"Oh wow," Dia gasped in awe, "So Forjador City was founded by both Humans and Faunus?"

"That's right," Leon nodded as he gestured to the window, where everyone could see the citizens, both Humans and Faunus, walking around in fairly good moods and getting along nicely, "This city is one of the few places in Vytal that does not discriminate between Humans and Faunus. We had this old saying for those who wanted to be a citizen of Forjador City, 'It doesn't matter if you have blonde hair, dark skin, cat eyes, or bat ears, so long if you can craft, then you're in.' Forjador City in the past only cared if you're able to make things that would help the city prosper, even if you had animal traits. That accepting nature was passed down from generation to generation, to the point where, even now, nobody in this city cares if you're a Faunus. So long as you have a good time and are good with your hands, then Forjador will welcome you with open arms."

"I never knew that, Papi…" Levy said as she looked at her father in amazement before turning to Henry, "Does that mean your family has a crafting skill too, _Jefe_ Malcom?"

"Why yes, actually," Malcom confirmed, "During our free time, our family has a habit of making various types of scented candles and incense, with a preference towards olibanum, otherwise known as frankincense, thanks to one of our ancestors named Melchior, a founder of Forjador City. It was a strange hobby of ours considering our sensitive sense of smell, but it was something that we've done for a long time and it's something that won't fade for years to come."

"Your family is one of the founders and incense makers? Fascinating," Dia said quietly, looking quite interested in the subject. She was about to ask more about incense when she noticed someone at the corner of her eye. Turning to the window, her eyes widened in surprise to see her leader exiting a grocery store with an older woman with short black hair, a violet blouse and tan pants, and both were carrying loads of food in their arms. She caught the irritated looks the two had on their faces but what surprised her was that the irritation was not directed at each other, but at something else entirely, and she had an idea on what it was.

"_Weiss was right, Chief _is_ in a bad mood,"_ Dia thought, _"I guess he really wanted to be with us and show us around the city himself. And it's not just him either. That woman next to him looked pretty miffed herself. I wonder if that's Chief's mom…"_

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

"Here it is everyone, my favorite store in all of Forjador City. Welcome to Esmeralda Arts and Jewels," Weiss announced happily. Team RWBY and Professor Ozpin were in the Crafters' Market, wandering around inside fairly large jewelry store that apparently doubled as a small art gallery.

"Wow, Weiss, this place is amazing!" Ruby exclaimed as she ran around the shop.

"These paintings are very impressive," Blake mused as she examined the paintings, "Is this where you receive your painting of Forever Fall?"

"It wouldn't surprise me," Yang chuckled, looking at different pictures of forests, from a snow covered one to a luscious green one before checking out the jewelry in the displays. "The jewelry looks awesome, too. Are they handmade?"

"Indeed they are, Yang," Ozpin confirmed as he held a necklace, "The store itself seems new, but the jewelry here have a similar style to that of one of the founders of Forjador City, Sidus Geleider, the leader of them to be exact. The founder specialized in handmade jewelry if I recall correctly, and the family currently resides over at Vacuo, although a majority of them are here currently for the festival like the Ivory family."

"The leader of Forjador's founders was a jeweler?" Ruby asked curiously, her smile growing wide, "That's…so…cool!"

"Funny story about that," Weiss laughed, "The owner of this store is the artist of these paintings, but his wife trained with a member of the Geleider family over at Vacuo for a while. When she showed me the jewelry she made, I was always so amazed by how pretty they were. She's one of the best jewelers in Forjador City outside of the Geleider family."

"Oh I don't know about that, Nievita. I'm sure there are others in Forjador that are as good as me," A female voice giggled close by.

Team RWBY and Ozpin turned to see a woman smiling brightly at them behind one of the jewelry displays. The woman had shoulder length black hair with brown eyes similar to Levy's with an sleeveless emerald blouse, black pants and a violet bracelet similar to Levy's on her right arm. The moment the woman revealed herself to the others, Weiss let out a happy gasp and ran towards her.

"Nina!" Weiss exclaimed as she hugged the older woman tightly, much to the surprise of her teammates and headmaster.

"Wow Weiss, I've never seen you this excited before. It's kinda weirding me out," Ruby joked.

"Wait a minute…did that woman just call Weiss 'Nievita'? I thought only Leti calls her that," Yang questioned in confusion.

"I wouldn't be surprised if this woman was the one who thought of the name in the first place. She always did like to give people nicknames," Ozpin chuckled. Noticing the confused looks he was getting from the girls, he began explaining, "That woman is Eva Esmeralda, formerly known as Eva Morado before she got married. She's one of Leti's older sisters, was quite the traveler when she was younger, and was very interested in making jewelry. It's no surprise to me that she ended up at Vacuo and learned from a member of the Geleider family about jewelry."

"They taught me a few things, Ozzie, but I was simply happy to be exploring Vacuo and what it had to offer. Learning from one of Forjador City's founding families was just a plus," Eva said politely as she ended her hug with Weiss. "I take it the cute girl in red is Ruby, the one with the bow is Blake and the blonde is Yang, am I right?"

"You know who we are?" Ruby asked curiously.

"Of course," Eva confirmed, "Leti told me all about you and Yang when she came back last week while my _ahijado_ told me about Blake. He looked so happy when he was talking about you girls and his friends, especially Weiss. Then again, Nievita here always did bring a smile to his face, no matter what mood he's in." Her comment caused Weiss to blush lightly and smile softly.

"_Ahijado_…that means godson," Yang muttered before speaking up, "Leti is your sister, right? That makes you Sparky's aunt, but you called him your godson instead of nephew. Does that mean you're both his aunt and godmother?"

"That's right," Eva grinned, "My youngest sister and I are very close and our husbands knew each other quite well also, so they decided to make us Baltazar's _padrinos_, his godparents. He used to call me Nina all the time because he had a hard time saying _padrina_, and he's said it so much that it stuck. He still calls me Nina even now. It's so adorable."

"Baltazar calls you Nina when he means godmother…" Blake said slowly, "Then is Weiss your godchild also? She did call you Nina after all."

"That's actually because of Baltazar that Nievita calls me Nina," Eva giggled, "Those two have been together so often that she's gotten into the habit of calling me Nina too. Her godparents are actually my sister Leti and her own Baltazar, but she calls them Aunt Leti and Uncle Bo." She looked down to Weiss and gave her a teasing grin, "I heard from Kira earlier today about what you're planning to say to Baltazar, and I have to say, it's about time. You two are so adorable together and both of you know how to make each other happy. Oh, I can't wait! I can see it now…picnic dates, romantic walks in the park, holding hands in the movies…oh that's so precious!"

"Nina!" Weiss whined, her face bright red in embarrassment from the jeweler's teasing.

"I like this woman," Yang grinned and gave her sister a one armed hug, "I wish we had an aunt like her in our family.

"I know. I bet she'd be an awesome friend for Uncle Qrow," Ruby sighed.

"They're actually already well acquainted with one another," Ozpin chuckled, gaining the sisters' attention, "In fact it was because of Qrow's help that Eva was able to explore most of Vytal without any issues from the Grimm."

"Really?" The sisters questioned and began to beg their headmaster for stories about their uncle and Eva.

Blake smiled at her team's antics. She wandered around the shop some more when she saw something that intrigued her. Looking out the window, she saw Baltazar walking out an ice cream parlor with a small smile on his face and a young girl on her shoulders. The little girl had long black hair similar to her own but straighter, brown eyes like the lightning ninja holding her, and a blue sundress. The little girl had a big smile on her face and Blake was surprise to see a small fang in her mouth similar to Karin's fangs.

"_Looks like Baltazar is attempting to enjoy himself a little," _Blake thought, _"He may be in a bad mood, but he's willing to make the best of his situation. That little girl on his shoulders must be his little sister, Sarah. Yang told me a little bit about her…she is as cute as she described. I hope Baltazar will be able to spend time with us soon. I really want to see what happens when those two confess to each other. I wonder if our Scrolls can take pictures…"_

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

"I really hope you guys enjoyed looking around my old home city," Levy smiled as she drank some hot chocolate.

The four teams and their chaperones were in a fairly nice hotel that was suggested by Professor Ozpin. The professors retired to their rooms for the night while team CRDL was spending time in the indoor pool. Teams RWBY, JNPR, and BLAD, on the other hand were relaxing in the hotel lobby, drinking some hot chocolate that was provided to them not that long ago.

"You bet! This city's awesome! You're so lucky to have lived here, Levy!" Nora beamed as she downed her drink, and then turned her attention to Weiss, "And I can't believe you come here so often! Is this, like, your second home or something?"

"You could say that…" Weiss smiled behind her cup, "When I was little, I spent most of my time either here or at Atlas. While Atlas has its charms, it doesn't really compare to what Forjador has to offer. A lot of my family members don't really like it here all that much because of how accepting the town is towards Faunus, but they can't deny that the products made here are some of the best Vytal has to offer."

"Do they know that two of the founders are Faunus?" Dia asked as she set her drink down.

"As far as I know, only Mom and Dad know about that fact," Weiss answered, "Mom knows more about them than Dad does, but that's because she's from here. She used to be a musician and made a lot of instruments in her spare time before she became more focused on being a huntress. She was also in a team with two members of the founding families, so she was quite close with them."

"Wow…that's cool," Ash smiled, "So your mom's from here and she and Balto's dad were teammates of Forjador's founders…that must have been an awesome team."

"That's where you're wrong, Ash," Ruby giggled, causing most of her friends to stare at her oddly.

"What do you mean?" Velvet questioned, "I would've thought that a team with Weiss's mother, Baltazar's father and two members of Forjador's founding families would be a powerful team."

"That's not what she meant," Yang said, giving Levy and Weiss a knowing look, "She was actually talking about Sparky's dad just now."

"I don't understand…" Ren asked, hoping for an explanation soon.

"She means that Papi wasn't just a teammate of members of the founding families. He _is_ a member of the founding families, just like me and my big brother."

With a startled jump from most of the group, everyone turned to see Cody walking up to them with a wide grin on his face.

"No wonder Baltazar likes to sneak up on you guys so much. It's pretty fun," Cody chuckled in amusement.

"I swear, you and that twit of a big brother of yours are going to give me a heart attack one day…" Weiss groaned as she shook her head.

"Cody? What are you doing here? And where's Baltazar?" Levy asked.

"Got a call from Kira saying that you guys are spending the night here, Cousin Levy, so I thought I come by to see you again and get to know my big brother's friends," Cody explained, "Baltazar's finishing up a project he's been working on shortly after coming here, so he won't be able to see you guys until tomorrow at the earliest." His smile grew bigger, "Besides, I'm not alone. I brought a special little someone with me. Emphasis on little."

Cody stepped away and much to the surprise of the others, especially Blake, a little girl was revealed to them. It was the same girl that Blake saw earlier when she was inside the art and jewelry store. The little girl looked quite nervous, most likely because of all the people in front of her. That reason, however, flew out the window once everyone heard Yang squeal in glee.

"Oh my God, it's the little munchkin!" Yang exclaimed as she ran to the frighten girl.

"Oh no, not again!" The little girl screamed before Yang picked her up and gave her a very tight hug.

"Oh you cute little cub, where've you been hiding this whole time?" Yang questioned as she continued to squeeze the life out of the little girl, "Did you honestly think you could escape being my little cuddle buddy forever? I don't think so!"

"Choking! Need air! _¡__Ayuda __me!_" The child attempted to call out.

"Yang! Stop squeezing Sarah!" Levy and Ruby exclaimed as the two ran towards Yang and attempted to make her let go of the now identified Sarah.

"I'll never get tired of seeing that," Cody chuckled, amused by his little sister being treated like a stuffed animal by his best friend's sister.

"Be nice!" Weiss scolded and slapped her little brother figure upside the head.

As all of this was happening, the rest of the group was processing what they just heard. Apparently their lightning loving ninja friend was not only a citizen of Forjador City, but his family was actually a descendant of one of the founders. As they thought more about it, it actually made a lot of sense. Kira hinted as much when she said that hers and Baltazar's families were among the biggest help in the All Founders' Festival, and Kira's family is one of the founding families. That also explained why almost everyone they met in the City knew him so well. Ren, Dia and Blake also admitted to seeing him around the city either talking with various figures or doing errands with a member of his family. Even Cardin said that he's seen their friend walking with the boy who just came in and some old person with a cowboy hat.

"Wow…so Chief is a member of the founding families," Dia muttered.

"I wonder why we didn't figure it out sooner," Jaune questioned.

"I'm more curious about why he never told us in the first place," Blake admitted.

"Because you didn't ask," Cody said as he sat down with the group.

"Seriously?" Ren asked incredulously as everyone gave the younger boy a dead-panned stare.

"As stupid as that reason is, it's the truth," Weiss sighed, "Baltazar's good at keeping secrets about others, but he doesn't mind sharing information about his family if you guys ask. And honestly, you'd think that it would've been obvious that he was related to a founder. Did anyone tell you guys their names yet?"

"Not all of them," Pyrrha admitted, "The only ones we were told about were Sidus Geleider, the leader of the team of founders, and Melchior Maroon, the founder who first stayed behind."

"Ok then," Cody grinned, "Come close everyone and listen up. Baltazar and I were told about this last week and I was hoping to be the first to tell someone about it." He waited until everyone was seated…and for Yang to stop strangling his sister with love…to begin.

"You see, our city was founded by a team of wandering huntsmen trying to find a good place for a group of survivors they found to settle. The team was called MAGI and it consisted of a tracker: Maroon, a combat specialist: Azul, a healer: Ivory, and the leader and strategist: Geleider. The four of them traveled for months until they found this area. After clearing this place of the Grimm, the four brought the survivors and began building the city. It took a long time, but the city was soon constructed and will eventually become what it is now. It was also very fortunate that the majority of the survivors were craftsmen and artisans, just like the huntsmen, and that this area was rich with the materials most needed to set up shop. Once the city was built, Team MAGI was about to set out to explore more of Vytal and hopefully find more survivors, but Maroon wanted to stay in Forjador to protect the people there in case the Grimm try to attack again. His team was ok with that and left the city in his protection, agreeing to meet again in fifteen years. When the meeting time came, Forjador pretty much exploded in happiness and held a large festival in honor of their return. Team MAGI was only together for about a week, but when it was time to leave, Azul decided to stay behind with Maroon, his reasoning being he wanted to have a family and wanted to aid his teammate in protecting the city. Geleider and Ivory agreed and even admitted themselves that they were going to find other territories to settle down themselves. Before breaking up for good, Team MAGI agreed to meet with each other once every five years in order to catch up and see how the others are doing. The location of the reunion depends on who's in charge of the reunion at the time. If the Geleider family is in charge, then it will be held in Vacuo. If it's the Ivory family, then it's at Atlas. Both Azul and Maroon share the same reunion time and it is held at the place team MAGI helped build themselves, Forjador."

"Fascinating…" Dia whispered as her friends nodded in agreement, "So what are the founder's first names? And what were their crafting areas of expertise?"

"Huh…I knew I forgot something," Cody laughed sheepishly, trying to ignore his sister figure's incredulous look, "Ok, well the leader of the group is Sidus B. Geleider, an expert jeweler and the one who built the minor combat school Sanctuary. Then there's Melchior F. Maroon, a bat Faunus with a strange talent for candles and incense who set up the police force. After that is Casper M. Ivory, a maker of all sorts of medicine and creator of the city's hospital; Casper Memorial."

Cody paused his story and got up, much to everyone's confusion. He rolled up his sleeves and made everyone stare at him in shock by what they saw. There were a total of six black stripes on his arms, three on each arm. At first glance, they thought they were tattoos, but looking closer, they realized that they weren't ink or panted on, those stripes are part of his skin. The stripped boy let loose a feral grin as his eyes glowed blue and his pupils narrowed to slits, just like his big brother, "The last founder was my ancestor and the namesake of my brother and dad; Balthazar G. Azul: Tiger Faunus, master weapons smith and creator of a small yet successful forging business, which eventually became the starting place of Papymon's most successful business: Azure Armory Inc."

"What!" Nearly everyone shouted in surprise.

"Baltazar's a Faunus?!" Blake and Velvet exclaimed.

"That does explain why eats a lot of meat compared to the rest of us…especially those pepperoni, ham and bacon pizzas he gets at lunch," Nora mused.

"I'm as surprised to know that his family runs Azure Armory Inc." Ren admitted.

"He told us that a while ago, Ren, but you were still passed out by the lullaby he and Weiss played for you a while back," Ash explained, before his eyes widened, "Now that I think about it, I remember seeing his stripes a few times already. They were on his shoulders, but I thought they were tattoos so I never brought it up."

"Oh…I should've guessed it earlier! It was so obvious!" Dia groaned, making her friends look at her curiously, "The shifting slit eyes were a dead giveaway! My chief back at the village has the same eyes, too! And he even said that it's common for Faunus with eyes like him to shift from normal to slits until they reach a certain age…called it optical maturity or something," She then looked around to see the reactions of her friends. While the surprised reactions from her partner, Blake, Velvet, Nora and Ren were predictable, what grabbed her attention was the lack of reaction from Pyrrha and Jaune. Ruby's, Yang's, Weiss's and Levy's nonchalance about the news was expected, as the sisters were her leader's first friends since moving to Vale, the heiress is his best friend since he was three, and the medic is his cousin, but not the red and blonde couple.

"Why are you two not surprised by this?" Dia couldn't help but ask.

"Because Baltazar and Ruby told me when I was training with them and Pyrrha guessed after Baltazar's and Yang's demonstrations of the technique they want to teach me practically destroyed their shirts and showed her his stripes," Jaune explained, but then slapped his mouth shut as he realized what he said, while his girlfriend gave him a glare.

"What!" Weiss shouted angrily and stormed to her teammate, "Why in the world were you sparing with Baltazar topless?!"

"I wasn't topless, we had our jackets off and our shirts got destroyed when our attacks clashed. I had my fireproof bra on at the time," Yang clarified with a light blush.

"_Holy Hell, my leader is one lucky dude,"_ Ash thought as he stared at his voluptuous blonde friend.

Weiss gritted her teeth and growled in jealousy before someone called out to her.

"Ah relax, Big Sis, don't be jealous," Cody said, "You've seen Baltazar in his underwear hundreds of times already, so you shouldn't be upset. Besides, you use to walk around in your underwear too, sometimes, when it got really hot here during the summer. There's nothing to worry about so…just…ah crap."

The Signal student paled considerably as he noticed the wide eyes of his brother's friends and the demonic look on Weiss's face. Realizing what he just said, Cody started to back away slowly until Weiss's voice came to his ears.

"You loud mouthed brat…" Weiss growled out slowly, a bright blush on her face, "You. Are. Freaking. DEAD!" She got up and proceeded to chase after the young, frightened tiger blacksmith. While most of the group was surprised by what's going on, they were more surprised by the fact that, other than the tourists, the hotel employees didn't look all that worried or shocked by what was happening. In fact, most of them had fond and faraway looks in their eyes, as if remembering something a long time ago.

"…Something tells me this happens a lot," Ren droned stoically.

"Understatement of the century, Ren," Levy giggled out, "This happened so much that most of us here in Forjador took bets on how long it was going to take Weiss to catch Cody, even after the two started getting along better. If anything, that made it more entertaining to watch because it turned into more of a small sibling argument."

"That's a small sibling argument?" Velvet asked as she pointed at the running pair, one of which was waiving her rapier around like a madwoman.

"10 minutes! 20 lien!" The receptionist called out with a grin.

"30 on 5!" Levy called back with a grin on her face as well.

"…I'm moving here when I'm a retired huntress," Yang stated in an even tone

"Same," Ash and Nora agreed.

"Can we get back to the matter at hand, please?" Dia asked in an annoyed tone before turning to her teammate, "So Baltazar is a Tiger Faunus and never even breathed a word to us about it except to Jaune and Pyrrha. Does he not trust us or something?"

"He must've had a good reason for hiding it, Dia," Blake said calmly, absentmindedly fiddling with her bow.

"Did you ask Brother if he was a Faunus?" Sarah asked politely, which made nearly everyone face fault in disbelief.

"It's going to be a running theme with him, isn't it, dudes?" Ash muttered.

"It's like Weiss said, if you want to know more about Baltazar, all you have to do is ask. If you don't say anything about it, he won't say anything about it unless he wants to." Levy explained, ignoring the shouts coming from her friend and second youngest cousin.

"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE BRAT!"

"NOT A CHANCE! AND I'M NOT LITTLE ANYMORE; I'M TALLER THAN YOU NOW, DAMMIT!"

"It's what he did with me," Jaune shrugged, "When we were sparing one time, I managed to cut off one of his sleeves from his shirt and I saw his stripes. I thought they were tattoos, so asked them if they were. He actually looked irritated at me and told me that he was a Faunus and the stripes were a part of his body. It surprised me when I found out, but I didn't think of him differently. I actually think it's pretty cool that he's a Faunus."

"Ok…this is too much information for one evening," Ren groaned and rubbed his head.

"I agree," Blake sighed.

"It might be best to turn in for the night," Pyrrha giggled uneasily before turning to the young child before her, "Your big brother Cody told us that your oldest brother is going to have free time tomorrow. Will it be possible for us to see him? We have a lot of questions for him."

"Only if you're going to Papymon's work," Sarah said, "We're having a lot of people coming to see the factory tomorrow so most of us are going there to make sure nothing goes wrong during the tour."

"That's perfect, actually," Dia grinned, "We're the people that's going to visit your grandpa's factory, so tell your brother to give us a huge welcome when he sees us."

"OK!" Sarah agreed enthusiastically with a wide smile, only to be caught in another hug, only this time by Nora.

"Oh my God you are so adorable!" Nora squealed as she held Sarah close to her chest.

"I know, right?" Yang grinned as Pyrrha and Ren tried to make the grenadier loosen her grip.

"COLD! _¡MUY FRIO!_"

"Serves you right you little troublemaker!"

Somewhat startled by the yelling, everyone turned to see young Cody trapped on the wall near the hotel entrance by ice and Weiss standing in front of him with Myrtenaster glowing light blue, indicating that she just used her ice Dust to freeze her victim to the wall.

"Wow! That's so cool, Sissy!" Sarah exclaimed in awe once Nora let go of her.

"It was nothing, Sarah," Weiss smiled, amused by the child's inadvertent joke, "Sorry I had to freeze your silly older brother, but it had to be done.

"S-S-Sorry my f-f-frozen b-b-butt, y-you ice l-loving psycho of a s-sister…" Cody stuttered to himself, thankful that the heiress didn't hear him.

"Time?" A housekeeper asked as she folded some towels, catching the Beacon students' attention.

"Four minutes, forty four seconds," A passing lifeguard announced.

"Looks like Levy wins this time, folks. Her time was the closest," The receptionist grinned.

"Yay!" Levy cheered.

"You better share some of that money with me, Levy!" Weiss called out over her shoulder, well aware of the bet that goes on between her and Cody, before turning to her friends, "And none of you will mention a word to this to anyone back at Beacon, got it!"

"Got it!" Everyone nodded in slight fear.

"Yang! Ruby! _¡Ayuda me por favor__!_ I don't want Mom to know I got frozen to a wall by Sis again!" Cody cried out desperately.

"Coming!" Ruby laughed out as she and her sister went to free her best friend.

Yang had a large smile as she brought out her flames. "I am _definitely_ moving here when I retire."

Author's Note:

And so here ends the first part of the double update. Forjador's history has been explained and some revelations have been made about Baltazar, including the fact that he's a Faunus. Remember, as stated in one of my earlier works in Life at Beacon: A Game of Kings at the Club, in this story there are Faunus in Remnant that don't have animal traits like Velvet or Sun do. Kira and Malcom's traits are their longer ears and fangs, making them look like vampires. In fact Kira and Malcom are based on Karin and Henry from the Chibi Vampire series. I also decided to use the original team that I was planning on using for this story as founders of Forjador City; Team MAGI. MAGI is indeed based on the story of the Three Wise Men, and it's a story that's close to me so I thought I'd bring them into my story to help me out. Sidus is the leader of the team because he is based on the Star of Bethlehem; in fact his first name means Star in Latin while his last name is Guide in Dutch if I remember right. Also, I think it's kinda obvious what the G. F. and M. stand for in the other members' names, so I hope you like the little references there. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I look forward to how you all think of the next one.

Translations:

Cuñado: Son-in-law  
Jefe: Chief  
Aijado: Godson  
Padrinos/a: Godparents/Godmother  
Ayuda me por favor: Help me please  
Muy Frio: Very Cold


	8. Eyes of a Beast, Heart of a Protector

Hello, mates, Black Fuego with the second part of the double update of BLAD of RWBY and JNPR! This is my longest chapter yet! Even after splitting the original chapter into two parts, this chapter ended with just over 20,000 words and 71 pages without the author notes. This chapter will have the tour of the weapons factory and whatever happens during the tour. This one has more action in it compared to my last couple chapters so be ready for a treat. Enjoy, mates! Also, the factory is sort of based on the Monsters Inc. factory with a bit of the weapons room where the Sarcophagus is located in RvB season 9.

Disclaimer: I don't own the RWBY series or any other references made in this story. I do wish to live in the RWBY world, but that can't happen, so I'll settle for this.

"Hi" Talking  
_"Hi"_ Thinking  
_'Hi'/Hi _Memory and/or Flash Back  
'Hi' Reading  
_"__Hola__"_ Different language

The BLAD of RWBY and JNPR Chapter 8: Eyes of a Beast, Heart of a Protector

"Well students, this is it! Welcome to Azure Armory Inc. Main Weapon's Factory," Glynda announced as stood in front of the factory's entrance. The factory's exterior was fairly large and looked quite impressive to the students of Beacon. Near the top of the building was the name 'AZURE ARMORY INC.' in large capital letters and right below it was a symbol of a large lightning bolt with three stripes on it inside a circle…the same symbol that Baltazar always wears on his shirts and coat.

"I can't believe I never noticed it until now…" Ren muttered in disbelief.

"You'd be surprised by what Humans can be ignorant off," Velvet giggled.

"Weren't you unaware that Kira and Chief are Faunus though, despite the fact that you're one yourself?" Ruby asked innocently, making Velvet drop her head in depression.

"Save your questions until we meet up with _primo_, ok?" Levy requested, and received nods in response.

"Alright, students, let's not dilly-dally. We have a lot of ground to cover today so let's not waste any more time," Glynda called out and ushered her students inside. Once inside, the students were greeted with a large, spacious lobby with all sorts of people walking around with various types of clothing, from protective gear to lab coats. The sight of the large lobby impressed most of the Beacon Students.

"Impressive," Pyrrha smiled.

"I know right," Levy nodded as she looked around the lobby.

"Wait until you guys see the rest of the factory," Weiss said with a small smile herself.

"Well now, this is quite a surprise," An old, masculine voice laughed out from behind the group, causing all the students and even a few of the instructors to jump in surprise. Turning around, they see an elderly man, possibly in his sixties, laughing at the group. He was wearing a white cowboy hat and a pair of sunglasses that hid his eyes, a blue polo shirt with the Azul lightning emblem on his breast pocket, and a pair of black pants with dark brown leather chaps. Ozpin, the only person who wasn't surprised by the older man's presence, simply smiled and walked up to the old cowboy.

"Taking a spin on surprising people, Ramon?" Ozpin asked in a friendly tone.

"One of my grandsons has a bit of a habit of sneaking up on others and I figured I give it a shot. It's actually harder than it looks." Ramon answered back in the same tone. The old cowboy then focused his attention to the Beacon students, specifically the white haired heiress.

"As I said, this is quite a surprise. It's good to see you again, Weiss," Ramon smiled, "It's been quite some time."

Weiss gave the older man a small scowl before sighing and smiling slightly, "It's good to see you too, Mr. Ramon. I heard you've been making Baltazar running around town like a madman this past week."

"Ah…sorry about that," The old cowboy apologized, "The All Founders' Festival is a very popular and important event, so all of us in the Maroon and Azul families have to work hard in making sure it goes well. All of us had to contribute a lot in some way and we are both exhausted and a little frustrated for a while…some more than others. I've been making him help out more than most of my other grandchildren so that he wouldn't have to deal with our relatives too much. It makes him tired, yes, but it does help him get away from their overly harsh critiques of him, even if the tasks he had to do are annoyingly mundane."

"Well…at least you're helping him, Papymon. That's enough for me," Weiss sighed.

As the two continued to talk, Cardin let his curiosity get the better of him and turned to Ruby, "How does your teammate know this old man? I remember seeing him yesterday with Azul and a kid your age and those two looked pretty pissed off at him."

"I'm surprised you don't recognize him, Cardin. He's pretty well known," Ruby frowned before explaining, "That is Ramon Azul, owner and founder of Azure Armory Inc. His ancestor, another founder of Forjador City; Balthazar Azul, created a family run metalsmith shop that specialized in weapon making in order to provide aid to the Maroon family, who were the designated protectors of the city. The metalsmith shop expanded over time and Ramon thought it would be a good idea to share his family's work with the rest of Vytal. Long story short, the idea worked and Ramon decided to turn the shop into the factory you see now. There are other factories found in Vacuo and Atlas, but this is the main one that's run by the company founder himself." The young leader then began to smile, "The reason why Weiss knows him is because her dad is one of Ramon's business partners. He's also Baltazar's grandfather, so it makes sense that the two know each other on a personal level."

"Whoa…" Cardin whistled. He wasn't aware that Azul was part of a weapon making family, let alone an ancestor of one of the city's founders. It was somewhat of a shock to him…until he realized that lightning bolt symbol on the front of the factory was the same symbol the lightning ninja always wears on his shirt and coat.

"God I'm an idiot…" The leader groaned into his hands.

"You're not the only one…" Ren sighed, somewhat sympathetic towards the bully.

"Well," Ramon announced as soon as he finished his conversation with Weiss, "Now that the group is here, are you all ready for a tour around the factory?"

"You're going to be giving us the tour, sir?" Pyrrha asked politely.

"Of course I am. After all, no one knows an Azure Weapons Factory better than an Azul, especially the Azul who practically created it," The factory owner grinned, "And there's no need to be so polite. I know that most of you are friends of my grandson, Baltazar, so please, just call me Ramon."

"Chief was right, his family is pretty laid back," Dia whispered to her friends.

"Can we call you Papymon too like Weiss can?" Yang asked as she brought Ruby close to her, "My sister here is going to marry you other grandson Cody eventually and I'd like to have a head start on getting familiar with you."

"Yang! Cut it out!" Ruby whined with a red face as she struggled in her sister's grasp.

"I don't see why not," Ramon laughed, "Now stick together everyone. This is a big factory and my sensory skills are not what they use to be, so I won't be able to find you all that easily if any of you get lost."

"Understood," The students replied as they and the professors follow the factory owner.

"First stop is our testing area," Ramon announced, "We've just finished a new product and we would be happy if you kids tried it out for us."

"Of course we would!" Ruby cheered enthusiastically, much to her friends' amusement.

"Ok…show of hands. Who here saw that coming?" Ash laughed as he and his teammates raised their hands.

"I know I did," Yang chucked as she and her team raised their hands.

"Kinda predictable to be honest," Jaune grinned as he and his team raised their hands as well.

"She always did seem very enthusiastic whenever we have discussions with weaponry," Glynda commented in a slight teasing tone as she and the professors also raised their hands.

Ruby didn't even acknowledge the teasing remarks as she was too busy jumping in excitement to listen to them.

"Ah…that enthusiasm reminds me of when my grandchildren first visit the factory…especially little Cody," Ramon sighed happily as they passed by a door that was guarded by a dark grey android with blue details. The sight of the android made Blake gasp quietly while Weiss quirked an eyebrow.

"When did you get AK-130 security androids, Papymon?" The heiress asked.

"Around two years ago," Ramon explained, "It was an idea that was brought up by Professor Burgundy, head of the Security Department. Most of the employees and board members liked the idea and we went ahead and got them. I prefer actual security guards, myself, but I can't deny their effectiveness."

"I see…" Weiss muttered to herself. She knew a bit about the AK-130 androids because her father used them to guard a shipment of Dust that was traveling by train a while back. However the robots were taken out quickly by a couple members of the White Fang and they managed to take the shipment. At least the crew members on board were spared. She was grateful for that.

"_I'm surprised that Mrs. Burgundy is head of the Security Department, though,"_ Weiss thought, _"She was a bit of a klutz last time I saw her."_

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

"Welcome to the testing area," Ramon smiled, "This is where we try out our latest weapons for public use. If it works, it's shipped, if it doesn't, then we keep working on it until it does. We're stubborn like that."

The Beacon students stared at the room in awe. All sorts of weapons were being used by scientists to determine their effectiveness. From shotgun staffs to turret hammers, many students had their jaws to the ground in disbelief from the weapons they've seen.

"I think I'm in heaven…" Ruby whispered to herself.

"_If she's like this with the testing area, I can't imagine what will happen once we reach the Vault," _Weiss thought as she stared at her dumbstruck partner.

"This is indeed very impressive, Ramon," Peter commented, "Seeing all these weapons being made to ensure the safety of Vytal makes me quite happy."

"Indeed," Ozpin smiled, "Now, if I recall, you had a finish product that you wanted us to see. Is that right?"

"That's right. Follow me," Ramon said and walked over to another part of the area. He stopped at what appears to be a shooting range, complete with a shooting target.

"Ok, here we are," Ramon announced, "This is where we'll show you our new weapon. Now, does anyone here have the Polarity Semblance?"

"I do, Mr. Ramon," Pyrrha said and raised her hand.

"Excellent," The factory owner smiled, "Now listen closely, I want you to use your semblance to change the direction of this Explosive Dust Knife I'm about to throw over to the target over there." He finished while preparing to throw a throwing knife with a red hilt.

Pyrrha nodded and walked next to the factory owner. Ramon watched as the young huntress to be channeled her aura into her arm in order to use her semblance. He threw the knife and it suddenly became coated in Pyrrha's aura, causing it to veer off course and made it hit the wall behind the target, creating a fairly large explosion that made a fairly sized crater and still destroyed the target.

"Reminds me of Levy's knives," Dia muttered to Ash as a new target was produced.

"Don't forget who makes her those knives in the first place," Ash whispered back, reminding the archer that it was their leader, a member of the Azul family, who makes the bomb knives for their teammate.

"Excellent," Ramon smiled before he searched his pockets, "Hmm…now where did I put those things?"

_*THUNK* *THUNK*_

"Looking for something, Papymon?!"

Shocked by the knives falling from the ceiling and imbedding themselves into the table, everyone looked up to see Cody grinning and leaning on a catwalk railing, wearing a white lab coat like the other weapon testers in the area. What was different about his lab coat however, were the Azul lightning bolt emblems on his shoulders.

"Ah…I forgot I gave you the knives to show your brother. How did he like them?" Ramon asked as he removed the knives, one with a stripped light blue hilt and one with a stripped dark blue hilt, from the table.

"He's impressed," Cody nodded, "We both are. I didn't think it would work, to be honest, but you know Baltazar. He's still doing inventory in the Vault with the others so he'll be there when you're done with the tour."

"Indeed," Ramon nodded before he turned to Pyrrha, "Now, try using your semblance on these knives."

Confused a little by the needed repeat, Pyrrha tried to lift the light blue knife with her semblance, but found that she couldn't move it. Curious, she channeled more aura into her hand, but the result was still the same.

"I can't move it…" Pyrrha muttered in disbelief.

"What?" Ruby asked as she picked up the knife and inspected it, "Hmm…this looks like a regular Dust knife and feels the same, but I can tell there's something different about it."

"How so?" Levy questioned.

"I don't know…" Ruby frowned, "All I can say is that my hand feels a little tingly when I'm holding it. It actually feels familiar," She then channeled some aura and threw the knife dead center on the target, causing it to explode in a burst of ice.

"That feeling you have is the aura in the knife brushing against yours," Ramon smiled, making everyone stare at him curiously, "The knives here are made basically the same as other Dust Knives, but they have a bit of aura in them…aura of the Polarity Semblance to be exact."

"Polarity Lock!" Pyrrha exclaimed suddenly.

"Postmortem Luck?" Russel asked, not sure of what he just heard.

"Polarity Lock, Mr. Thrush. It's the ability to prevent Polarity users from manipulating metal objects by channeling aura from another Polarity user into the object, making it only work for him or her," Glynda explained, "It's a fairly difficult ability to learn and many think it's almost impossible to create weapons with that property, since it's hard to make ones that are able to safely store aura for long periods of time. Then again, considering where we are, I'm not surprised that someone's able to perform such a feat."

"You're correct, Glynda," Ramon nodded, "A couple of our smiths are capable of storing aura safely into weapons for long periods. When the idea was brought to us, we decided to try it out to see if it worked, but the only problem we have is that we don't have many employees here that possess the Polarity Semblance and have a lot of aura to spare. Because of that, these knives will have to be sold at fairly high prices because we can't make a lot of them and only be sold as reusable knives. We are able to make custom made knives that can store the user's aura should he or she have the Polarity Semblance, so that it would be easier for the user to retrieve the knife."

"Wow…that's a cool product," Jaune said, "So who's aura is in these knives?"

Ramon began to grin widely as the other knife was suddenly surrounded by a blue aura, "Why the creator of the first set of Explosive Dust Knives, of course. Would you believe he was only ten when he made them?"

The aura coated knife began to float and made its way to Cody's head, stopping right in front of it. What surprised most of the students and professors, though, was that not only his hand was glowing, but so were his eyes, and his pupils were slit, just like last night.

"No way…" Ruby muttered in disbelief before adopting a big grin on her face, "Cody! You were the creator of the Explosive Dust Knives!" Her comment made everyone stare at the blue eyed polarity user in surprise.

"I really like explosions, and besides, I only created the standard kind," The weapon smith shrugged before letting the knife rest on his hand. Taking note of the dark blue stripped design on the hilt, he channeled a bit of aura into the knife, threw it at the still frozen target, and watched it explode in a burst of electricity, "It was Baltazar that came up with the different variations of it. Shock Knives, Ice Knives, even the Polarity Lock Knives were all thought of and designed by him, and he came up with those ideas when he was attending Signal…except for the new knives. He came up with them about a month ago when he saw the long red haired girl over there use her semblance for something. The Shock Knives in particular are based on his own Electric Shuriken that he fires from Gentle Storms, but with a more explosive kick to it."

"Huh…that explains why he spent a lot of time in the forging stations working on his shuriken and knives back at Signal," Yang mused.

"…You take weapon ideas from ten year olds and minor academy students?" Cardin asked in disbelief.

"Well…considering one is a forging genius and the other can modify weapons to perform feats we didn't even think of, I'm more than happy to take suggestions from them," Ramon shrugged.

"We're not that skilled, Papymon," Cody shook his head and pointed to his best friend, "Rubes is an awesome forger, better than most of our forgers, and is just as skilled at making modifications as Baltazar. If anything, the weapon ideas she'll come up with will definitely be top of the line, on par with some of our best works."

"Cody…" Ruby smiled, touched by how much her best friend believed in her.

"Laying it on a bit thick there, aren't you Cody?" Weiss asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Giving credit where credit is due, Big Sis," The young weapons smith shrugged as he pulled out a blue, serrated butterfly knife with a rose design on it. He activated his semblance again and sent the knife into Ruby's hands, "Baltazar told me about how you decapitated a giant Nevermore on initiation and I thought it would be a good idea to give you a reward for that, for keeping your promise. It's a rose designed butterfly knife I made called Cobalt Rose. I know you like the classics more than other huntresses, so I thought it would be a good gift. You can even start that collection of classics you've been talking about back at Signal with that thing. Hope you like it."

Ruby looked at the knife in her hands with wide eyes before she looked up to her best friend with the brightest smile anyone has ever seen on that girl, and that was saying something, "I love it. Thank you so much, Cody. I promise to take really good care of it."

"You're welcome," Cody smiled warmly.

"Aww…isn't that cute?!" Yang gushed; surprising pair of best friends and making them blush, "Don't forget to give him a kiss for that gift, Ruby."

"Let me know when the wedding is so I can hire a planner ahead of time, Cody," Weiss teased, enjoying the opportunity to mess with the young weapon smith.

"Cut it out, Sis!" Ruby and Cody shouted at their respective sisters, causing the rest of the group to laugh.

_*WOOSH*_

_*SHINK*_

Jumping a little at the sound of something flying past him, Cody turned to see a DVD sized shuriken embedded to the wall behind him, with a couple pieces of paper tied to it. Removing the throwing star, he noticed that the papers have his and Ruby's names on them. He removed the paper with his name on it and used his semblance to safely give Ruby the shuriken so she could get her paper. Soon after reading the notes, the pair began to blush brightly and threw their papers away from them.

"What the hell, Baltazar?!" Cody shouted out.

"Bro…why do you do this…" Ruby groaned with her face in her hands.

Curious as to what embarrassed the two, Yang and Weiss picked up the notes and read them themselves, only to laugh at what they've just seen.

"His drawings have gotten better since the last time I saw them," Weiss giggled.

"Even when he's busy, he still makes time to be a teasing older sibling like me. Not to mention write awesome poems," Yang grinned.

The two showed the rest of the group the notes, causing them to laugh hard and Ruby and Cody to blush more. The notes had a small doodle of Ruby and Cody kissing each other with roses and lightning bolts surrounding them. Right below the picture was a small poem written by the occupied lightning ninja.

'Roses are red and very pretty.  
Lightning is bright and hard to miss.  
Let me say one thing, Ruby and Cody:  
Will you two hurry up and kiss?'

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

"Well now, I hope you all have been enjoying the tour so far," Ramon smiled at the group of student and instructors.

"We have, Mr. Ramon!" Ruby grinned, with the others nodding in agreement. Shortly after the little visit to the testing area, Ramon sent Cody off to do help his brother with the inventory check and he continued with the tour. Throughout the day the field trip group explored other areas of the factory, including the smithing area and the production line. Most of the group was surprised to learn that not only do most of the company's products started off hand made before being mass produced, but the metal of preference that the Azul family uses is gold. Almost every weapon made in the factory has traces of gold in them, especially those with electrical properties. According to Ramon, gold was a common metal for the Azul family to use because of how well it channels electricity, the element that all members of the family has an affinity for, no matter what their semblance is. The metal was also very compatible with Dust and aura, another reason why it was used often. The family was smart enough to not create weapons out of pure gold, thankfully, as they knew the risks of making such weapons. They weren't greedy, Mr. Ramon told them at the time, although some of them are kinda lazy.

"It was quite interesting to learn that your family uses gold in most of their works," Pyrrha stated politely.

"I remember Sparky carrying a bottle of gold dust with him wherever he goes," Yang mused, "I thought he just carried it as a substitute for money or something until he told me he used them for his Electric Shuriken."

"All of us carry some form amount of gold dust on our person," Ramon said as he pulled out a small bottle filled with golden powder, "You'll never know when you need to make something, and it makes a handy good luck charm."

"Aren't you afraid that someone might steal some of your gold?" Velvet asked honestly.

"Feh…I'd feel sorrier for the poor idiot who thought it would be a good idea to steal from an Azul," Weiss scoffed, "They're very protective and don't really tolerate those who try to take what's theirs, especially whoever they consider friends and family. A truly angry Azul is something you guys never want to see…trust me."

"You can say that again…" Levy muttered, remembering her uncle's small fits of real anger back when she was younger. It was a scary sight.

"I guess we should be grateful that Azul never saw us beat up Jaune back at Forever Fall…" Dove whispered to Cardin, who nodded in agreement.

"Are we almost done with the tour, Mr. Ramon?" Glynda asked politely, "We've covered quite a bit of the factory, and I'm not sure there's anything else left that you're allowed to show us."

"Well…there is one place that I have yet to show," Ramon grinned, "I was saving it for last. I hope you like it."

"We're going to the Vault, aren't we," Weiss stated in a knowing tone.

"The Vault?!" Ruby and Yang shouted in excitement.

"What's the Vault?" Dia asked what she and the others were thinking of.

"The Vault is where we display some of our family's major works," Ramon smiled as he stopped at a large door. "From our first to our best, almost every weapon made by our family since we first settled in Forjador is stored here. The majority of them are simply replicas of the original works, but that doesn't lessen their significance to us."

The factory owner pushed the door open and revealed the room to his guests, and smiled broadly as he heard their gasps of surprise. The room before them was filled with all sorts of weapons that the Azul family had used throughout their history. From simple weapons such as Jaune's to complex ones such as Ruby's, the first and the best weapons from the Azul line could be seen in this room. Some are in elevated displays cases, some hanging on the wall, and there are even some suspended in the air with catwalks around for closer looks. To the students, it looked like an exhibit for a museum.

"Holy crap…this is a lot of weapons," Ash muttered in disbelief.

"Mr. Ramon was right," Pyrrha whispered, "Even if they're simply replicas, it doesn't lessen their significance. It's amazing that the Azul family used all these weapons to fight against the Grimm.

"There are even weapons that look just like ours here," Cardin said, looking at a blue tinted mace that looked like his own.

"No matter how much I come here, I always feel amazed by what I see," Ozpin smiled in reminiscence.

"This is amazing…" Yang grinned, "I can't believe that Sparky's family made and used all of these weapons. Pretty cool, don't you think, Ruby?"

_*THUD*_

Yang blinked a couple times, "…Ruby?"

The group turned to where Ruby was at, and they sweat-dropped by what they saw. There, on the floor, was the young weapon obsessed leader, passed out on the floor with a ridiculous grin on her face.

"Oh Ruby…" Yang sighed with a smile on her face, shaking her head at the sight of her fainted sister.

"See, Kira? I told you she'd faint if she saw this room. You owe me and my brother fifty lien each."

"No way, Cody! I need my money for a special occasion. Get it from Aiuto instead."

"Hey, it's your guys' bet, not mine. Why so stingy, anyways? I bet you're gonna use that money for a hot date or something. Don't you think so, Chrona?"

"Don't ask me these things; you know I don't know how to deal with romance. Why don't you ask Baltazar about it? He knows more about that subject than me."

"Only a little, Chrona. Everything I learned about that stuff I got from the romance shows that Weiss made me watch with her."

A little surprised by the conversation above them, everyone looked towards the catwalks to see not only Cody, but Kira, Aiuto and Baltazar, along with a newcomer that apparently is connected with the other four. The teen, who they could guess was Chrona, had short strawberry blond hair, teal eyes, and a black robe with pale yellow cufflinks and a collar, the cufflinks having a dark yellow star with a blue eye in the center of it. Over his robe was a white lab coat, in fact all of the teenagers had a lab coat on over their clothes, each with their own emblem on their shoulders. The five teens looked down at the group with smiles on their faces and even an enthusiastic wave from Kira, and a shy one from Chrona.

"Haha, nice to see you in such a better mood now, _nieto_," Ramon laughed towards the lightning ninja.

"Considering I finally get to see my friends again and you managed to get our relatives off my back, how can I not be, Papymon?" Baltazar grinned.

"I'm glad to see you're ok now, Baltazar," Weiss said warmly before pointing towards her leader, "Do you think you can help wake Ruby up? This has never happened to us before and we don't know what to do."

"Hmm…" Baltazar thought quietly before giving his answer, "I got something. Give me a moment."

Baltazar and his reunion friends came down to the group and he motioned Cody to the unconscious girl, whispering something as he did. Giving his brother a look of disbelief, Cody walked over and kneeled to Ruby, whispering something in her ear.

"WHAT!" Ruby shouted and sprung back to life, grabbed her best friend's shoulders and began to shake him violently.

"What do you mean you can't make your special strawberry cookies anymore?! They're even better than your chocolate chip cookies! You're the only one I know who makes them perfectly! You can't just stop for no reason! You can't!" The strawberry lover ordered as she shook her hostage faster.

"Rubes! I! Was! Ly-! -Ing! To! Wake! You! Up! Stop! Sha-! -King! Me! Damn! It!" Cody shouted out desperately.

Teams RWBY, JNPR and BLAD laughed at the scene before them while the rest simply stared in confusion.

"Looks like Yang isn't the only one who likes to shake others like a rag doll," Pyrrha laughed.

"Ah…glad I'm not the only one that had to go through this," Baltazar sighed happily.

"I bet we can get Yang to give you a repeat performance," Ash joked.

"No way!" Weiss glared and held on to her best friend's arm tightly, causing him to blush a little and look down at her curiously, "You guys know how strong she is! I'm not going to let her attempt to snap his neck again!"

"I said I was sorry…" Yang pouted, looking away from her white haired friend.

"And you're ok with your brother being shaken to death by her sister, Weiss?" Nora asked innocently, pointing at Ruby, who was still shaking Cody hysterically.

"Considering she froze him to a hotel wall because of what he said about her last night, I think she's more than ok with it," Blake commented dryly.

After hearing that comment, Baltazar gave his Weiss a blank stare as the young heiress gave him a sheepish smile.

"Well…you see," Weiss began.

"_No quiero saber,__"_ Baltazar sighed, "Odds are he probably deserved it anyways. Even with the much better relationship you two have, Cody's still one of the only people out there that can get you super angry without really trying…even by accident."

"Ahem!"

Hearing someone clear his throat the three teams turned to see Ramon and the Beacon instructors staring at them with amused expressions. Ramon's throat clearing also snapped Ruby out of the hysteria and caused her to drop Cody to the ground, his eyes spiraling in dizziness.

"I take it things like this happen often at your school, Ozpin?" Ramon asked kindly.

"Whenever I see these students go about with their day, Ramon," Ozpin replied, "Would you believe that, on the first day of classes, these students actually had to run like their lives depended on it because they were afraid that they were going to be late?"

"Haha! Sounds like when my sons and daughters went to Beacon," The grandfather laughed.

"Uh, sirs?" Glynda called out unsurely, "The tour?"

"Ah, of course," Ramon apologized, "Well everyone, this is the last part of the tour; The Vault. This is also where I turn over my position as tour guide to my grandsons and their friends. If any of you need me, simply asked Baltazar to message me. Enjoy."

The fieldtrip group watched as the old factory owner left to tend to his own work. Curious as to why he left, the group turned to his grandsons, hoping they would answer their unasked question.

"Don't look at us," Cody said with a frown, "We don't know where he's going. Odds are he might be heading to the park or something."

"The park?" Levy questioned, "You mean Rosary Park?"

"Yup," Baltazar nodded, "You guys'll probably find out more about it tomorrow, but for now, I believe proper instructions are in order."

"But we already know most of you. Some more than others," Ruby argued, pointing at herself, her sister and Weiss.

"Sorry, but we have to," Aiuto apologized as he and the other guides lined up, "It's part of our job for today as guides for the Vault."

"I'll start off," Kira began, tucking her hair back so the students can see her pointed ears, "My name is Kira Maroon, daughter of Malcom Maroon, Chief of Police here in Forjador. I'm a Bat Faunus with the ability to track down people through their dark emotions thanks to my Negative Empathy Semblance. I'm currently a student at the minor combat school Sanctuary and to fight, I use my Energy Draining Bladed Revolvers I named Li'l Vampires. My hobby is cooking and like my family, I'm skilled in making incense and scented candles."

"So it's like that, eh?" Baltazar mused before turning to his classmates, rolling up his sleeves past his shoulders so that his stripes were visible, "Well, then. My name is Baltazar Azul, as you all know, and my brother and I are grandsons and potential heirs of Azure Armory Inc., but I think Cody has a better shot than I do. I'm a Tiger Faunus with the ability to turn invisible for a short time through my Storm Cloak Semblance and a high affinity for electricity. I'm a student at Beacon, leader of team BLAD, and fight with either my Advanced Electric Dust Katana, Azure Bolt, or my Modified Dust Battle Gauntlets, Gentle Storms, among other single use weapons I have stored in my person. I prefer to play videogames on my spare time but I like to spend times with my friends more, lately. I'm a weapons smith like the rest of my family, but I'm more skilled in modifications and enhancing weapons so that they can perform feats they normally wouldn't be able to do otherwise."

"I'll go next," Cody called out, rolling up his sleeves as well to reveal his stripes, "My name is Cody Azul, Baltazar's little brother obviously, and one of the heirs of Azure Armory Inc. Like my brother, I'm a Tiger Faunus with a high affinity for electricity, but unlike him, I can manipulate magnetism to an extent through my Polarity Semblance. I'm a student of Signal Academy just off the coast of Vale and when I fight, I tend to mow down my opponents with my Retractable Light Machine Claymore; Raging Thunder. I like to mess around with machines in my spare time and pull pranks on people if I'm bored. I'm a highly skilled weapons smith and enjoy making different kinds of one use weapons for myself."

"Uh…I guess I'll go next," Chrona announced timidly, surprising the other guides, "My name…is Chrona Geleider. I'm from Vacuo but I've been staying here in Forjador with my grandparents for a few years now, working with Mrs. Esmeralda over at her and her husband's shop. Unlike my friends Kira or the Azul Brothers, I'm a human, and I can manipulate certain objects or create projectiles with my Glyph Semblance. Um…I'm not really in a combat school, but I know how to fight, and I use a High Vibrating Dust Sword that my mother made named Ragnarok. I like to play the violin and, like most of my family, make bracelets and necklaces on occasion as a hobby. I'm willing to play you all a song if you're interested."

"Nah, Chrona, let's wait on that," Aiuto said with a nervous smile on his face, "Guess I'm last then. My name is Aiuto Ivory of Atlas, but I'm here in Forjador for the festival and visiting my reunion buddies, Kira, Baltazar and Chrona. Like my main man Chrona here, I'm also human, and I can heal almost any wound out there with my Recovery Semblance. I've finished my education at a minor combat school but I haven't had the time to apply to an advanced combat school like Beacon, but I will soon, and my weapon of choice is my custom made Automatic Dart Crossbow Halberd named Crusader. I enjoy making herbal medicine like most of my family and sparing with my buddies back at Atlas."

"It's nice to meet you all," Ozpin smiled, "I take it all of you already know about us due to Baltazar."

"Yeah we have…" Kira nodded, giving Baltazar a slight glare, "Although he didn't really tell us everything, like the fact that he was the leader of his one team or that he and his friend helped bring two people together with his tracker crafting lessons."

"I said I was sorry! I didn't think was important. How did you know about me and Ruby helping Jaune out anyways?" Baltazar questioned.

"Kira went with the group what had the couple you helped out while I went with the group with Mr. Awesome 'Stache over there." Aiuto said, pointing at the happy Professor Port

"That man does have a pretty cool mustache," Chrona muttered, looking at the professor.

"Yeah…I wonder if we should get mustaches like that," Cody said, looking at his timid friend.

"Oh no you're not!" Weiss shouted and glared heatedly at the young teen, "You are not going to have a mustache like that. If you do, I will use your sword as a razor and chop it off, got it!"

"Yes mam!" Cody replied in fright.

"You're really against mustaches, aren't you?" Baltazar asked curiously, recalling that she made the same threat with him when he thought of getting a mustache like his professor.

"Only when it comes to you two," Weiss stated, "I will not stand by and let you two walk around with ridiculous mustaches like that. Do you know how embarrassing that would be?"

"Probably be worth it, though," Cody whispered to Chrona, before noticing that Weiss was looking at them again with a glare, "…On second thought, not worth it."

"Ok, while those three have their little discussion, why don't you all explore the Vault a little," Kira smiled, "I'm sure you guys might find something interesting in here."

"I bet we will," Ren nodded as he and the others wandered around the area, checking out different weapons that the Azul family created.

"I wonder if we can find Cody's and Baltazar's first weapons here…" Ruby mused.

"I'm sure we will," Levy assured, "After all, this is where all of the first weapons the Azul family ever made is stored, even if they are replicas."

"Good luck finding Baltazar's though," Aiuto snickered, "It's in here, but the sneaky tiger hid it pretty well, and didn't even put in any kind of indication to show that it's his."

"Why would he do that?" Dia frowned.

"Probably to prevent his relatives from finding it and use it as another excuse to mock his 'poor forging skills'," Yang muttered darkly.

"That might be the case," Chrona agreed softly with a sad tone, "He didn't even tell us what the weapon is, only that it's something that we would think he'd both use and not use at the same time."

"When did he start speaking in riddles?" Jaune asked curiously.

"Your guess is as good as ours," Aiuto shrugged.

"Oh! Guys! I found Cody's first weapon!" Ruby shouted enthusiastically, pointing at the display case in front of her. Inside the case was a pair of kunai knives with red taped hilts and a small information plaque that explains what the weapon is and who made it.

"Looks like the Explosive Dust Knives were Cody's first weapons that he made," Velvet commented quietly.

"Why are they kunai, though?" Yang asked, "I know the Dust Knives Sparky makes for himself are kunai, but I didn't know Cody was the one who came up with it first."

"Those were actually the original design," Cody said, appearing behind Ruby. "I got the idea from watching one of Baltazar's ninja shows and it had kunai with paper bombs wrapped on the hilt. I thought they would really help him out and I decided to make some. Unfortunately one of our relatives saw me make them and pretty much made me redesign them to how they are now. He took my knife to Papymon and had him mass produce them as our new single use product. He was nice enough to give me credit, but I really wanted only Baltazar have them. I was upset, but later on Baltazar showed up with the original bomb knives, saying that he really liked them and was happy that I designed them with him in mind. After that, I promised that while everyone else will have the current knives, only he will have the original ones, the ones I made especially for him."

"Aww, you're so sweet!" Yang gushed and hugged the little weapons smith tightly, "You're such a wonderful little brother, aren't you. This is why I approve of you."

"Approve of me for what?" Cody rasped, feeling like his lungs were going to be crushed.

"For going out with Ruby, of course," The blonde brawler grinned as he dropped the gasping weapons smith. "After all, I can't let just anyone go out with her."

"Heh, it seems like Weiss isn't the only one who sees him as a little brother," Blake mused as she watched Yang give Cody a list of what kind of guy she thinks will be good for Ruby and how he fits that criteria, while the younger pair blushed brightly. The shadow ninja wandered around the Vault some more, seemingly interested with the displays when one weapon caught her attention. What she saw was a blue colored ninjato and a rifle sheath, a weapon that she was quite familiar with.

"Oh, I see you found Pop's first weapon," Baltazar said from behind Blake, startling her a little.

"W-What?" Blake asked, both surprised by Baltazar's sudden appearance and the fact that his father used the same weapon that her old…acquaintance used.

"Yeah, that's Tormentas Gemelas, the Twin Storms," Baltazar explained, "It's an energy absorbing sword that's coupled with a double barreled rifle sheath. Pop use to use it back at Salvation before switching to his claw gauntlets that he uses now. He was actually the one who taught me how to use Azure Bolt properly."

"Really?" Blake asked, curious that someone who, as Weiss said before they came here, specialized in strength based combat would create something like a ninjato, a speed oriented weapon, as his first weapon.

"Yeah…weirded me out when I found out that Pop used something like this too. He told me that he had passed on his weapon idea to a kid he knew a while back, but Pop can't tell me his name. All he told me was that has the same name as one of my second cousins from Mom's family, like that helps…"

"Hmm…" Blake nodded in understanding while she thought to herself, _"So Baltazar's father was the one who inspired Adam's weapon. But he's been a part of the White Fang for years. Does that mean that Baltazar's father was…no. If he was, I would've met him."_

"Well now, I think we've seen enough," Ozpin announced, catching his students' attention, "Come along now everyone. It's time to go."

"Aww come on, Professor!" Ruby whined, staring at the silver haired headmaster with big, puppy dog eyes, "Can't we stay here a little longer? Please?"

Ozpin blinked at the adorable sight, unsure of what to say. He was originally planning to let his students wander around town with their chaperones, but if some are willing to stay here, then they'll be watched over by Ramon's workers and security, ensuring their safety. He knows that some of the old cowboy's children are somewhere in the factory so his kids will be fine.

"All right, any of you who wish to stay can stay," Ozpin said, surprising his students and professors, "We were going to allow you students some free time after this with chaperones, but I can see that many of you wish to remain here, not just Ruby."

"But Professor," Glynda tried to protested.

"Now, now, Glynda, our students will be fine," Ozpin assured, "After all, they are in one of the most secure places in Forjador. They won't get into any trouble so long as they behave," He then turned to his lab coat wearing student, "Am I correct to assume that some of your relatives are in this facility as well, watching over you and your brother?"

"A couple of them are, sir," Baltazar nodded, "You don't have to worry about us, though. We'll make sure no one gets hurt while we're here. Right guys?" He finished, looking towards his brother and reunion friends.

"Of course," Cody said as the others nodded, "No need to worry, sir."

"Alright then, I'll leave my students in your family's watch," Ozpin smiled, "Alright, if any of you students wish to leave then follow us."

"We're leaving, Professor," Cardin said, with his team nodding in agreement.

"I'll leave as well," Velvet said, "I want to look for some souvenirs for my team and I think now is a good time," She then turned to her temporary teammates, "I'll see you all later, ok?"

"Sure thing, Vel," Ash grinned as he and his friends waved goodbye to their friend and instructors.

"Well…shall we continue on with the tour, or is there anything you guys want to know about?" Kira asked politely.

"Actually, there's something we need to ask our leader about, if you don't mind, dudes." Ash said with a serious look, staring at his confused looking leader.

"Uh…ok?" Baltazar agreed unsurely, "What is it you guys want to talk about?"

"I'll just get strait to the point, Chief," Dia said as she and her friends walked up to Baltazar, "Why didn't you tell us that you were a Faunus? Were you scared that we would see you differently if we knew, or did you not trust us enough to know about it?"

"Look, dude, it doesn't matter to us if you're a cat person or not," Ash stated, "You're our leader and our friend and that's not going to change. If you were afraid to tell us that you were a Faunus, then I can honestly say you have nothing to worry about."

"They're right, Baltazar," Ren nodded, "None of us will think of you differently just because you're not like us. You're our friend and comrade in the battle field. We have your back just as much as you have ours."

"I think it's cool that you're a Faunus, Balty!" Nora exclaimed, "You have all sorts of cool abilities that we regular people can only wish we have. Super hearing, night vision, and all sorts of awesome stuff. And if you're a cat person, then that means you purr, too! Can we listen to you purr some time? I bet it's super cute!"

"Nora!" Ren, Dia and Ash shouted in an attempt to calm down the hyperactive bomber.

Baltazar stared at his friends blankly, as if processing what his friends just told him. His brother and friends who knew about his Faunus heritage looked at him in worry, wondering what he was thinking of and what he might say soon. A few moments later, the lightning ninja shook his head a little and stared at his friends in disbelief.

"…You guys didn't know I was a Faunus? Really?" Baltazar questioned incredulously.

"Wait…are you saying that, all this time, you thought we knew that you were a Faunus? That's why you didn't tell us?" Blake asked.

"I wasn't even trying to hide it that hard, if at all," Baltazar replied, "I mean, seriously, my eyes should've given it away easily! They turn to slits for crying out loud, a common trait for any young Faunus with advance night vision until they reach a certain age where they're fully matured and stay as slits. Not to mention that Ash has seen my stripes all the time when we change into our uniforms." He turned to his red haired teammate and facepalmed, "Oh don't tell me that you thought that my stripes were tattoos."

"Uh…well…" Ash said uneasily.

"Oh for the love of Remnant," Baltazar groaned, "Look, I'm sorry for not telling you guys that I was a Faunus. I honestly thought that you guys knew. I guess it's sort of my fault for that, since I'm so use to people knowing that I was a Faunus and not caring much about it. I promise that I'll try to be more upfront with my past with you guys. But seriously, if you guys want to know more about me, all you have to do is ask, ok?"

"Yeah, we know…" nearly everyone in the Vault groaned exasperatedly, even a couple of the guides.

"…Was it something I said?" Baltazar asked curiously.

"Don't worry about it. They'll get over it eventually," Weiss assured with a friendly smile, making her best friend more confused.

"Wow…everyone looks kinda upset, but I think I have a way to deal with it," Chrona said as he pulled out a violin and bow, much to the other Vault guides' fright, "Maybe a song will help lift the mood."

"No, wait!" Kira, Baltazar and Aiuto called out, but it was too late.

_*SCHREEECH!*_

"GAH! OUR EARS!"

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

"Oh dear…looks like Chrona brought out his violin again. I thought Kira, Baltazar, and Aiuto pelted it with bullets, shuriken and darts last time he brought it out," A calm feminine voice said to herself as she watched the monitor in front of her with a cup of coffee in her hand. The woman had auburn colored hair, teal eyes behind a pair of glasses, and a typical white lab coat on. In the monitor, she could see the large gathering of teenagers collapsed on the floor clutching their ears and had painful looks on their faces.

"It's nice to see the four of them having a wonderful time," The woman smiled, "Especially Baltazar. He's been in such a poor mood due to his relatives hazing him and his grandfather putting him to a lot of work this past week." She looked at the monitor once more and took another drink of coffee when…

_*SLAM*_

"What's up, Maddie!"

_*PFFF!*_

The sudden arrival of another guest into the room caused the auburn haired woman to spit her drink at the monitor. The guest had wavy black hair that reached the bottom of her neck, brown eyes with slit pupils, and a white lab coat as well with the Azul emblems on her shoulders. She had a big grin on her face and happily patted the coughing woman on the back.

"Easy there, Maddie, nothing to be scared of. It's just me," The guest said jokingly.

"That's why I was scared, Mrs. Luz," Maddie glared, "You do this every time you visit the security room. It always the same thing with you, isn't it?"

"For the last time, Maddie, just call me Silvia," the now identified Sylvia groaned, "Seriously, we've been friends for years and we were even on the same team back at Beacon, remember?"

"I know that, but you're still my boss's daughter. I have to give you proper respect when I'm on the clock." Maddie sighed before looking at the monitors again, grimacing at the now wet screens.

"Ah…watching over the security footage and monitoring over the androids that you suggested we get," Silvia said, watching her friend try and clean the coffee off the screens.

"Yes, and you'll be interested to know that two of your nephews happen to be stars of one of my security cameras now, as tour guides for the latest batch of Beacon students." Maddie said calmly.

"Really!" Silvia exclaimed excitedly as she stared at the center screen, where she could see her nephews Baltazar and Cody standing up along with what she can assume to be the Beacon students while holding their ears in pain. She then noticed a white haired girl next to Baltazar and began squealing in glee, much to her friend's annoyance.

"What is it now?" Maddie groaned

"I see Weiss!" Silvia shouted, leaning on the control panel, "Look! There's no other girl I know with hair that white before!"

"Silvia, get off the control panel!" Maddie shouted as she headed towards her friend. Unfortunately her foot got caught on some wiring on the floor, causing her to trip on her friend and fall to the ground hard, shaking the room a little. The shaking, however, caused her coffee cup, which was set aside almost immediately after her spit take, to drop and spill its contents all over the panel, causing it to emit sparks wildly.

"Oh no! The control panel!" Maddie shouted as she got up to try and fix it, but the sparks were preventing her to get close to it.

"Let me handle it! Electricity won't hurt me much," Silvia ordered, heading to the panel herself. She looked over it to find a way to shut it down but the sparks were making it too hard to tell which button or lever she had to use. She noticed a dark blue button that was admitting a lot of sparks and her eyes widened when she saw it explode.

"Oh no!" Maddie shouted as an alarm started going off, "That's the emergency assault button! That's used if we have a highly dangerous intruder inside one of our high target rooms like the testing area or the Vault! It locks the intruder in and sends in every available android we have to take out the intruder by all means, even the androids your family developed! Without the button and the control panel the way it is, we can't call off them off, even if we shut down the factory!"

"Get my sister here! She'll be able to handle something like this. Technology is her specialty," Silvia ordered before looking at the screen worryingly, "Where in the world will the droids be heading to?"

Maddie looked over her friend with a frightened look and a phone in her hand, "They'll head over to where the largest or most potent amount of unfamiliar aura is located. That's how it's able to tell if the intruder is a threat or not, but the only area that could have that much unfamiliar aura in the factory is…"

"The Vault!" Silvia finished with a scream, looking at the flickering monitor where it showed her nephews and their friends.

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

"Dammit…and I thought we destroyed this thing last time," Aiuto muttered as he held a broken violin on one hand and rubbed his hurting hear with the other, "…And the time before that now that I think of it. And the time before that, too!"

"It's Chrona we're talking about, mate," Baltazar groaned, trying to ignore the ringing in his ears and looking around the room, "He always has back up violins somewhere on him. By the way, has anyone seen the kunai I used to cut the strings?"

"Where does he put them all?" Kira moaned pathetically, not hearing her friend's request, "Better yet, who in the right mind would let him _buy_ all those violins?"

"Does this happen a lot?" Blake grumbled, looking over at the shivering violinist who was getting yelled at by Cody.

"I'm guessing it does, considering how annoyed and somewhat nonchalant Baltazar and his old friends are acting," Ren sighed, digging a finger in his ear. Suddenly a siren went off and everyone looked to see red lights going off from all over the room and the doors and windows suddenly became sealed.

"Oh come on…" Jaune groaned, "Why does this stuff only happens to us?"

Ash's eye began to twitch as he turned to his friends, "Ok! I know this is kinda cliché, but who was the one who said 'what's the worst that could happen?' or something similar before we went on this trip?"

The girls, besides Weiss and Kira, blinked a couple times before looking towards Dia, who had an embarrassed look on her face.

"Looks like you're questions' been answered, Ash," Weiss said before looking over to her best friend and her little brother, "Baltazar, Cody. What's going on? Is there an intruder in the factory?"

Before the brothers could answer, an announcement could be heard throughout the factory in a robotic tone.

"Attention factory staff, multiple intruders have infiltrated the Main Factory Vault. We request that you all find a safe location to stay or leave the factory immediately. The Vault is currently on lock down and our security drones have been dispatched to handle the situation. Please remain calm as our security removes the intruders."

"…Ah crap," The brothers grumbled as everyone started to worry more.

"What's going on?! There's no intruders here!" Jaune shouted in fright.

"_We're_ the intruders, Jaune," Baltazar stated in an annoyed tone. "The androids are heading here because they don't recognize our aura signatures as one of the staff. Even my and Cody's signatures are not recognized by these things because we've been gone so long and the androids were installed two years ago, when Cody and I were in Signal together."

"How many are going to come after us?" Kira asked fearfully, as she has never been in a true life or death situation like this before.

"Odds are, probably all of them," Cody sighed, frightening everyone, "Along with the standard brawler, bladed and gunner droids, we're going to have to deal with a few that our family developed for extra security; the explosive droids and most likely the pyro droid. Thankfully we don't have to deal with the giant spider droids, those are not fun."

"Oh man, this is bad…" Yang said in a serious tone before looking over to her fellow Signal Graduate, "So what do we have to do, Baltazar?"

"The only thing we can do, Yang," Baltazar said calmly as he removed his lab coat, revealing a sleeveless black shirt, prompting the other guides to do the same, and activated his gauntlets, "We have to fight until someone shuts down the security drones…and that's going to take a while."

"What do you mean _primo_?" Levy asked as she and the rest of her friends brought out their weapons as well.

"I mean that once the androids are let loose, it's very hard for anyone to stop them from completing their mission unless they're destroyed. Even shutting down the factory won't do anything to these things," Baltazar explained, "Normally all someone has to do is go to the security room and deactivate the drones there, but I think that an accident happened there, otherwise the drones wouldn't be coming to us. The only one who's able to shut down the androids if something like that happens is _Tía_ Blanca, but she's all the way on the other side of the city in Salvation Academy. It'll take a while before she gets here."

"So our only option is to try and survive until your aunt comes and stops the robots from trying to kill us?" Chrona asked worriedly, clutching a black sword with a pale yellow hilt.

"That's right," Cody nodded before looking over at the guides, who were still shivering in fright, but holding their weapons at least. He grabbed the sword on his back and swung it, causing the large blade to extend so that the sword became taller than him, "We're going to need all the help we can get, so can you guys help us out?"

"Don't think we have a choice, Cody," Aiuto stated, holding what looked like a crossbow with a barrel placed on top of it.

"But what about the weapons here?" Kira asked, holding a pair of red, revolver versions of Ren's Storm Flower pistols.

"The more valuable ones have already been moved by the factory itself to safer locations while the one that can be easily replaced are still here," Cody explained as everyone noticed that some of the displays have already been removed from the room.

"Lock'n'load, everyone. They're coming," Baltazar ordered as he sensed the androids coming to their location, "Don't worry about damaging this room either. It's heavily fortified and only something like a giant laser cannon can wreck this place."

"Baltazar," Weiss called out as she walked over to him with a scared look on her face, "Do you honestly think we can survive this?"

The lightning ninja stared at her for a moment before looking around to see everyone else staring at him curiously, as if waiting for him to say something. He sighed and grabbed Weiss's hand gently, closing his eyes for a moment, "No Weiss, I don't think we can survive."

The negative comment shocked almost all his friends, but the look on Weiss's face shocked them even more. What they saw was not a devastated look that lost all hope, but a look of confidence and determination, along with a big smile on her face. Levy and Cody also had wide smiles on their faces and walked to stand by the lightning ninja. Soon enough, everyone was close to each other with battle ready looks on their faces as Baltazar opened his eyes, revealing that they have changed once more to his blue tiger eyes and let loose a feral grin.

"I **know** we can survive this."

The moment those words left his mouth, everyone began to smile, feeling reassured that they'll come on top against whatever they were about to face.

"They're getting close," Ren called out, his own sensory abilities kicking in.

"What's the plan, Chief," Dia asked.

"Nothing complicated. Simply stick with your team and don't hold back. Levy and Aiuto will need to stay back a bit since they're our healers, and we can't let anything happen to them," The lightning ninja announced.

"But Baltazar, we aren't in a team," Kira pointed out as she gestured at Cody, Aiuto and Chrona.

"Then it's time for an old team to make its comeback," Baltazar stated, looking over at his brother and reunion friends, "What do you say, guys? Ready to try and live up to the original team MAGI's legacy."

"Not sure if we will, Baltazar," Cody said as he looked at his sword for a moment. He then smirked and swung his weapon, making it mecha-shift into a powerful light machine gun, "But we can sure as hell try."

"Good," Baltazar nodded, "Now, don't attack immediately. Wait for my signal, then scatter with your teams and take out as many androids as you can. Be careful everyone."

"What's the signal, bro?" Ruby asked, a serious look in her eyes.

The lightning ninja simply gave the young girl a small smirk, "You'll know it when you'll see it."

Any more conversation was cut off by the sounds of doors being released. Everyone turned to see what looked like an army of robots approaching them, all of which had some sort of weapon as their hands, whether they were blades, guns or even fists. They were coming out of the walls and from the floor through passages designed by the company so that they could come to certain locations quickly. Soon enough, one android positioned itself in front of the army and had its arms out, revealing its' turret hands, and spoke in a cold robotic voice.

"Intruders, identify yourselves."

Nobody moved, but Baltazar had a smirk as he brought his hands to his face.

"Sorry, can't tell you that," The lightning ninja said smugly, "But there is something that I can tell you."

His eyes were practically glowing with electricity as he spoke, "_Encontré mi cuchillo_." He clapped his hands, smirk growing wider.

Sparks were seen below the robot's feet and it looked down to see a blue tinted kunai that started to glow. After a couple seconds, the knife exploded in a burst of electricity, taking it and a few other robots out quickly. The attack prompted the rest of the androids to attack, charging at the four teams quickly.

"Now!" Baltazar called out as he activated his semblance and vanished into thin air, making the group of hunters to be scatter into their four teams.

Team RWBY began fighting against the brawler droids. A large number of them surrounded Yang, but she simply smirked and jumped into the air. Looking down, she grinned viciously and pulled her fist back, a light gold flame surrounding it and her hair glowing as well. She dropped to the ground and slammed her fist to the ground, creating a fiery shockwave that pushed the droids surrounding her back and greatly damaging them. Noticing that a few of the androids were trying to pick themselves, the blonde brawler fired a barrage of ranged shots from Ember Celica to ensure that they were down for the count.

Yang looked around her, admiring her work, when another droid attempted to sneak up on her. Unfortunately for the droid, its head was chopped off by a swift slash courtesy of Blake. Nodding at her teammate's thumbs up and thanks, the shadow ninja speed off, creating an afterimage of herself, slashing through a multitude of androids along the way. She shifted her Gambol Shroud into its chain scythe pistol form and performed her signature acrobatic assault, slashing and shooting any droid that was in her way. As she landed, she sensed another droid approaching her and speed off, making the droid hit her Shadow Image instead. Blake quickly reappeared behind the bot and sunk her katana into the machine, effectively destroying it, before speeding off once more.

Weiss stood calmly as a group of droids began closing in on her. Eyes cold, the heiress spun around once and drove Myrtenaster to the ground, creating multiple trails of ice that burst into small glaciers once they made contact with her foes. Weiss only had a moment to relax when she saw a trio of androids jumping towards her with their fists back. She calmly rolled over to the left, easily evading the attack, and activated the Glyph she casted on the spot she stood moments ago, causing the droids to be sent into the air. Acting quickly, Weiss created her small trapping glyphs and sent them to the droids, suspending them in mid-air. Her foes trapped, the heiress changed the setting on her weapon to her fire Dust and slashed the air in front of her, creating a pillar of fire that strikes all three droids in a burning explosion.

Ruby was slashing away the droids around her with a calm expression on her face. One by one the droids tried to get close to her, only to be sliced in two or receive a sniper round to the head. Noticing the large amount of droids coming from behind her, Ruby jumped on her scythe and used it to propel herself into the air. Seeing a pair of droids trying to jump to her, the young huntress glared and launched herself into to one of the droids, hitting it with her scythe and pulled the trigger, destroying the droid and sending herself to the other droid, where she easily sliced the machine's body in two. Once she landed, she took note of the many droids still in front of her and nodded to herself, reloading her Crescent Rose with one of her cross clips, and disappeared into the fray in a blur of rose petals.

While Ruby's team handled the brawler droids, Jaune's team took care of the gunner droids. Jaune was crouching with his shield up, protecting him from the barrage of bullets, while Pyrrha was over his shoulder, shooting at the droid's heads with Miló. Once the pair took care of the droids in front of them, Jaune suddenly turned around and swung Crocea Mors, decapitating the droid that was attempting to sneak behind them. Giving her boyfriend a proud and grateful look, Pyrrha shifted her weapon to its spear form and fired it in front of her, easily taking out a row of robots, before sprinting off to retrieve her weapon, with Jaune closely behind to cover her.

A pair of droids saw the couple and were about to fire when they were struck by one of Nora's grenades, exploding instantly. Nora had a big smile on her face as she looked at her work, before she shifted Magnhild to its hammer form and swung it behind her, slamming it into a group of droids who were trying to get in close. She looked over to Ren, who was quickly taking out some droids while evading their fire. Thinking that her best friend needed help, Nora rushed over to the droids and jumped high, before slamming her hammer into the unsuspecting battalion of droids, destroying or heavily damaging the ones who were after Ren. She slung Magnhild over her shoulder and gestured the remaining robots over to her, while Ren walked up to her, shaking his head in amusement, before reloading his Storm Flower pistols and took aim.

Team BLAD was focusing their work on the bladed droids, ironically taking them out with their own bladed weapons. Baltazar was making quick work with the droids surrounding him with Azure Bolt. Feeling like doing something different, the lightning ninja reached into his weapons pouch and produced a couple smoke bombs, which he threw to the ground. Temporarily unable to sense their target, the droids could only stand, unsure of what to do, when the smoke cleared and their target had vanished. The droids began looking around frantically for their foe when they heard someone whistling to them. Looking up they saw Baltazar on the catwalk, waving at them with a grin on his face. The grin turned into a smirk as he clapped his hands together again, causing the floor underneath the androids to glow red, white and blue, before it exploded in a mix of fire, ice and lightning. Feeling satisfied, the lightning ninja held out his hand and caught the falling kunai he used for his trap safely, before disappearing in a flash of blue light.

Levy had a slight frown on her face as she continually shot at the robots from a safe distance. Despite being the team medic, which practically required her to stay as far away from fights as possible so she wouldn't get hurt easily, Levy was taught and specialized in close combat through the use of her grandfather's knives. She gritted her teeth as she reloaded her gun with her standard ammunition, regretting that she didn't bring her special ammo that Baltazar made for her. As she reloaded, she noticed that the droids were rushing towards her, not giving her a chance to fire. The droids jumped at her and attempted to slash her, but a few moments later they realized that she had disappeared from her spot. Turning around, they see the girl calmly walking away from them, Flujo and Reflujo in their knife forms, and noticed her slowly sheathing her weapons. The moment they were fully sheathed, the droids dropped in a pile of slashed metal. The medic winced and held her head, channeling a little aura into her hand to heal herself. While she is possibly tied with Blake as the third fastest hunter in their group, she rarely ever moves at her fastest, as she becomes dizzy and gains headaches almost immediately after moving at high speeds. Sighing to herself, Levy looked for a safe place to hide so she can heal herself and others who might be hurt.

Ash smirked as he grabbed two droids by the blades and easily crushed their weapons with his bare hands. He grabbed Burning Crater from his back and shot the droids point blank with his standard incendiary slugs. Turning to see more droids coming after him, he shifted his shotgun into its hammer/axe form and swung at the machines with the axe half of his weapon, easily bisecting a row of them. The powerhouse then swung his weapon over his head and slammed the hammer half to the ground hard, creating a strong, flaming shockwave, similar to Yang's, straight towards the remaining droids, taking them out easy. The smirk still on his face, Ash changed his weapon back to its shotgun form and charged towards another group of droids, eager to take them out.

Dia kept firing arrow after arrow from her position on the catwalk, her eyes glowing dark green, indicating the use of her Tracker Semblance's weakness locater that she recently discovered. She looked down with a confident expression as she saw the droids she shot at go down with arrows in their heads and torsos, the weak points of the droids her team was fighting. She saw movement to her side and noticed that a droid had managed to find her on the catwalk and began to sprint at her. With a calm expression, Dia grabbed an arrow and began twirling it around like a baton, waiting for her foe to come close. The droid stopped right in front of her and was about to strike when the archer simply stabbed the machine in one of the weak spots in its torso, killing it instantly. Nodding to herself, Dia jumped off the catwalk and separated Piercing Gems into its dual kukri forms, feeling like fighting at close range for a change.

Despite not having as much experience in fight such as this compared to the other teams, the temporary team MAGI was doing quite well against the new explosion droids. They were similar to the brawler droids, but had small cannons attached to their arms that fire miniature missiles at them. Chrona was blocking the missiles with his large, black, star-shaped barrier glyph while Cody was lying down beside him, taking out the droids with Raging Thunder through the small space Chrona left between his glyph and the floor. Seeing the numbers dropped, Cody picked himself up and shifted his weapon back to its claymore form and, with a nod of confirmation with the timid swordsman, the pair charged at the remaining droids, evading missiles along the way. The two attempted an overhead slash on a pair of droids, but the machines caught their swords with ease. Glares on their faces, the two channeled their aura and activated their swords unique abilities. Raging Thunder began to emit sparks while Ragnarok was starting to vibrate. With a powerful yell, the two swordsmen pushed their swords into the droids, effectively splitting them in two, before jumping back to get away from the small explosion that originated from the destroyed drones.

Nervous, yet serious, expressions was seen on Kira and Aiuto's faces as the young blade user sunk one of her Li'l Vampires into a droid, successfully draining it of its power. Her weapon glowing dark red, Kira fired a number of explosive rounds at the droids approaching her, easily taking them out. As she reloaded, one of the droids took aim at her and was about to fire, before it was pelted by a number of darts from Aiuto's Crusader, destroying its arms. Taking advantage of its defenseless state, the healer rushed to the droid, shifting his weapon to a sharp halberd, and slashed the droid, finishing it off. Threat taken care off, Aiuto rushed back to his friend to back her up and heal her if she needed it.

The four teams were handling themselves quite well against the robotic assault. Eventually the droids began to branch out, having multiple types of droids battling against each team at once. The hunters themselves also began to branch off, trying to support their comrades and trying to prevent the droids from harming Levy and Aiuto, the major healers of the group. As time went on, the hunters began to feel a little tired and increasingly frustrated at the lack of assistance from outside the Vault.

"When is your aunt going to get here, Baltazar!" Ren shouted as he and Blake stood back to back, firing at the droids with their pistols, small scratches covering their bodies.

"She just got here! I can sense the tracker Papymon made for her," Baltazar replied, holding his katana on one hand and a large, tire sized shuriken with the other, and his glasses cracked a little, "She'll be at the security room soon, we just have to wait a little longer!"

"That's a relief! I don't know if I can deal with this any longer!" Chrona panted as he fired a ray of dark energy from his sword.

"I doubt any of us can, dude! There's just so many of them!" Ash stated, blocking an attack from a blade droid with his hammer/axe, sweat rolling down his face.

"Less talking, more fighting!" Weiss ordered, Myrtenaster impaled into the floor and ice in front of her. "We can't get distracted now! Just a little more and we'll be done with this."

Unfortunately for Weiss, as she spoke, a brawler droid managed to get in close to her without her noticing. By the time she saw the droid, it struck her with a powerful blow to her stomach, sending her flying to Baltazar, knocking his weapons off his hands and crashing both of them to a nearby wall.

"Weiss! Baltazar!" Levy shouted, afraid for her childhood friend and cousin.

"Levy, look out!" Jaune called out, impaling a nearby gunner droid that was about to shoot the medic.

Weiss and Baltazar groaned as they attempted to pick themselves up when the heiress noticed that her rapier was not near them. Looking around frantically she saw that her weapon was still where she was previously standing , still impaled to the floor, was about to run after it when she suddenly held her stomach in pain and coughed up a little blood.

"Weiss! Are you ok?!" Baltazar asked, fear and worry filling his now brown eyes.

"Ugh…that robot hit me harder than I realized," Weiss groaned, a little blood dripping from her lip "Get back in the fight. I'll be fine. Levy or Aiuto will be able to get to me easily."

"Not a chance, Weiss!" The lightning ninja glared, "You're hurt and weaponless. I'm not about to leave you here alone at the mercy of a bunch of rogue robots!"

"I wasn't asking you to leave…" Weiss said softly as she created a glyph below her best friend's feet. Trying not to look at the betrayed look in his eyes, Weiss activated her launch glyph and sent Baltazar back to the others to help them out.

The hurt heiress began panting heavily, exhausted that she used so much aura today, more than she ever used before. She clutched her stomach painfully as she sat back down and waited for either Levy or Aiuto to come to her. Hearing metallic footsteps, Weiss's eyes widened in fear as she saw a blade droid walking towards her, ready to attack the defenseless teen. Desperate to get the machine away from her, she attempted to create another launch glyph when she began to cough again, but with less blood than before. Once the cough went away, Weiss looked up and became afraid as she saw the droid right in front of her, its arms in the air and ready to attack. The heiress shut her eyes and brought her hands up, hoping that the attack wouldn't hurt too much. Suddenly she was pulled back by something and somehow found herself on the floor. Slowly picking herself up, she looked forward and let out a scared gasp at what she saw.

There, right between her and the droid, was Baltazar, with his arms spread wide and his back facing her. The heiress noticed that the droid's arms were down and covered her mouth in fright when she saw blood dripping from the blades, indicating that her best friend did take the attack that was meant for her. She began tearing up, immensely worried about the lightning ninja's fragile health and wondering why he took the attack, despite the risks.

Baltazar had his head down, taking deep breaths as he tried to ignore the pain on his body. With a ferocious growl, he looked at the droid that struck him with menacing blue slit eyes as he spoke with a dark tone, "You…will not…lay a finger…on Weiss…you overgrown can opener!"

With a shout, the lightning ninja grabbed the stunned droid's head and channeled a large amount of Dust and aura into his hand and sent it directly to the droid, severely electrocuting it and causing the head to explode. The small explosion knocked Baltazar back and caused him to land right next to Weiss, who saw that his chest now sported an X shaped gash on it. The frightened heiress looked at her best friend's left arm, and noticed that it was smoking a little, a sign that he overcharged his gauntlet with aura and Dust. It'll be a while before he can use it again.

"Oh…" Baltazar groaned, catching Weiss's attention, "Note to self: Never electrocute a robot like that again."

"You idiot!" Weiss shouted, tears falling from her eyes as she kneeled to her best friend, "Why the hell did you do that for! You know how vulnerable you are when you have open wounds like this! You can die at the drop of a hat if you get an infection from that!"

"No, I won't Weiss," Baltazar said calmly, eyes shut as if he was sleeping, "The cut's shallow, it's an easy fix for someone like Levy to heal, but it's still gonna sting for a bit. My immune system's stronger too, so it's going to take a bit more than a small infection to take me out. Besides, this is one of the cleanest places in the entire factory. It's so clean that you can eat off the floor."

"…Quit trying to make me laugh, you dunce," Weiss said with a weak smile.

"I'm being honest here. We actually did that a few days ago," Baltazar laughed lightly, "Aiuto dared Chrona to do it and he said he'll only do it if someone was eating with him, and Kira and I volunteered Cody join him. It was the second best day I had all week, the first being today."

"Why am I not surprised…" The heiress sighed quietly before looking away from her down friend, "Why did you do that, though? You know the risks you take when you get hurt like that. You trained yourself specifically to dodge attacks like that. Why did you put your life in danger to protect me, when you know I can handle myself."

"Didn't look like you were able to defend yourself from where I was flying…thanks to you," Baltazar argued as he tried to sit up, causing Weiss to look down in shame, "As to why I took the hit, you should know by now. We Azuls are very protective of our possessions and those we care about. I wasn't about to let some robotic can opener hurt the girl I love. I promised myself and Mr. Schnee that I'll protect you, and I intend to keep that promise for the rest of my life."

Weiss stared at Baltazar in shock, not believing what she just heard. Her best friend, the guy she's known since she was three, the one who she realized recently that she fell in love with, just said that he loved her as well. She began to cry again, but her tears were not from pain or fear. She was crying happy tears, despite the situation that they were currently in. She shuffled closer to Baltazar and gave him a gentle hug, making sure not to hurt him.

"Weiss? What's wrong?" Baltazar asked, confused as to why his best friend was hugging him and crying again, "Did I say something to upset you? Did I do something to make you cry? If I did, then I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry for making me cry, and you didn't upset me," Weiss whispered with a soft smile, "In fact, I'm really happy with what you said. After all, what girl wouldn't be emotional when they hear that the boy she loved also loved her back?"

Baltazar's eyes popped open, revealing golden brown eyes with slit pupils, and looked down at Weiss in surprise. He couldn't believe that he just heard Weiss confess to him. A big smile began to form on his face and his eyes began to water a little as he hugged his best friend back. As he hugged, he replayed what he just said to Weiss and chuckled softly to himself, gaining a confused look from the girl in his arms.

"Heh…I got to watch what I say. Who knows what might come out of my mouth next time," He then looked at Weiss and smiled, "Although I will admit that I'm enjoying the results of my big mouth this time."

"You and me both," Weiss sighed happily as she ended the embrace between her and Baltazar. The two began helping each other up when a familiar voice called out to them.

"Weiss! Baltazar! Are you two ok?" Levy shouted, worry filled in her eyes and hold Myrtenaster tightly in her hands.

"Couldn't be better," Baltazar smiled as he turned to Weiss, who also had a smile on her face, "But we wouldn't mind a bit of healing. Mind taking care of that, Levy?"

"As you always say _primo_, no worries," Levy nodded as she handed the rapier back to its owner, channeled some aura into her hands and placed one on Baltazar's chest and the other on Weiss stomach. The two sighed in relief as the soothing aura began healing their wounds.

"You'll need to stay out of the fight for a while, Weiss," Levy stated in a doctor's tone, "That blow to the stomach did a bit of internal damage. It'll be a while before you can fully recover. If you really want to help, then stick with me or Aiuto and offer support with your glyphs, ok?"

"Understood," Weiss nodded.

"_Primo_, your wound's not as bad. You're able to fight no problem," Levy explained before she frowned, "You should really consider yourself lucky that this place is so clean. If it was anywhere else besides Beacon, you'd be at serious risk of infection, and you know how risky it is for you to have a wound like this, especially where it's located." She then released an exasperated sigh, "But since you got hurt trying to protect Weiss, I'll let it slide. Just know that if you do something this stupidly risky again, I'll have Weiss freeze you to a table as I'll take your shuriken and kunai and play 'Doctor' with your frozen body, got it!"

"Yes mam!" Baltazar saluted with a frightened expression. Out of all the things that scared him, an angry Levy was among the scariest things he's ever seen in his life.

"Good," The medic nodded, before noticing a change in her cousin's eyes and smiled, "I see that your eyes have fully matured, _primo_. Now you look more like _Tío_ Baltazar."

"Say what?" Both Weiss and Baltazar asked as they looked at each other. Weiss's eyes widened in surprised as she noticed that her best friend's eyes did indeed changed into the golden brown cat eyes that were common among the adults of the Azul family.

"She's right…you're eyes are just like Uncle Bo's now," Weiss said in awe.

"Really?" Baltazar chuckled, "Guess I'm become more like Pop now eh?"

"You already have his sleeping habits and his protective nature," Weiss giggled, "Who knows what else you'll get from him in the future."

Levy had a soft smile as she watched the two talk to each other. She didn't know what it was, but she can feel that her cousin and friend have become closer than ever before.

"_They must've confessed to each other,"_ She thought, _"It's about time. I've waited four years for this to happen, and I'm really happy that it did. I wonder when they'll tell us."_

"Baltazar! Weiss! Are you ok?" Cody shouted as he ran towards them, a broken Azure Bolt on hand.

"Déjà vu, _otra vez_," Baltazar muttered, "We're fine, Cody, Levy healed us up. I'm ok to fight but Weiss is out of commission for a bit."

"Ok, thanks for letting me know," Cody nodded before frowning, "Bit of bad news, though. One of the droids managed to get ahold of Azure Bolt and pretty much snapped it in two. Looks like you're stuck with Gentle Storms and whatever's left in that black hole of a weapons pouch you have, Big Bro."

"Not exactly, little brother," The lightning ninja smirked, gaining confused looks from the others, "Remember, this is the Vault. The first and best weapon from almost every Azul in our family is located here, including mine. And unlike most of the weapons still here, it's not a replica. It's the real deal, and I think now's a good time to show them off."

The young weapons smith's eyes went wide as he stared at his older brother in shock, "You mean…"

"Yup," The lightning ninja nodded as his eyes began to glow blue once more, "It's time for the return of some old friends."

As the four of them were talking, the rest of the hunters were still fighting off the droids, but noticed something odd as they fought.

"Is it me or are there fewer robots after us than earlier?" Dia asked as she fired an ice arrow at a cluster of droids, freezing them instantly.

"I think you're right," Pyrrha agreed as she took out a droid with a headshot.

"Does that mean we're winning or what?" Yang asked, punching a couple droids in the torso and sending them flying.

"It might mean that Mrs. Bishop managed to get into the security room and is trying to stop the androids from her side," Kira guessed as she sunk her blades into a couple droids and began draining them of their power.

"Let's just hope that's the case," Ruby said as she shot at a few droids in front of her. One was sprinting towards her with turrets spinning, ready to fire. Ruby was about to move when suddenly a bullet came out of the approaching droid's chest, stunning it but not destroying it. Moments later, a pair of blades, sais to be exact, suddenly came out of the gunner droid's chest and just as quickly disappeared, making the droid drop to the floor, defeated. The scythe user gasped as she saw Baltazar standing behind the downed droid with a small smile on his face, spinning a sai on one hand and holding a pistol with another.

"Glad to know that my skills in knife handling didn't rust over the years," Baltazar laughed lightly, "Although I still need to work on my aim. I was going for the head."

"Bro…" Ruby whispered as she stared at the sai and pistol in the lightning ninja's hands, "Those weapons…"

"Like 'em?" Baltazar asked politely, "Meet the first weapons that I ever created, Ruby: My Shock Charged Pistol Sais, Rayos y Truenos. I based them on Abuelito's old knives, the ones Levy uses now. In fact, I upgraded those knives to work similarly to my sais. It took me months to make these how I wanted them and even now, I still have ideas as to how to improve them."

"But I thought you didn't like using firearms…" Ruby muttered.

"I don't, but these are exceptions," Baltazar explained, "Rayos y Truenos are the first successful weapons I made, and I made it how my family would've made it, as a firearm/melee weapon. It was a secret weapon that almost no one knew about. The only ones who know that I made them are Cody and Weiss, and that's because they actually helped me make them."

"So those weapons are special not just because they're your first weapons, but because Cody and Weiss helped you with them?" Ruby summarized.

"Yeah," Baltazar said softly before his eyes hardened. Turning around quickly, he aimed his pistol and fired rapidly with electrically charged bullets, striking an android that was attempting to stab him before finishing it off with a swift stab to the head with his sai. "We'll talk later, but for now, let's get moving. I noticed that we're fighting less droids now, which means that _Tía_ Blanca made it to the security room and is trying to stop the rest of the droids from coming to us."

With that, the two speedsters disappeared in a combination of rose petals and sparks, slashing and shooting away any droid that stood in their way, and met up with the rest of the group. The moment they appeared, Baltazar's arm began to beep, surprising everyone besides Cody.

"Must be _Tía_ Blanca…" Baltazar muttered as he activated the scroll function on his gauntlet.

"…So that's what he did with CRDL's Scrolls," Yang said quietly to herself.

"When could his gauntlets do that?" Ruby and Weiss asked together.

"It's a long story," Blake sighed, "We'll tell you about it later."

"Ok, guys! I got good news and bad news," Baltazar announced, "The good news is that my aunt managed to stop the remaining standard droids from coming over here and the ones in the rooms are the only ones that we have to worry about."

"Well that's a relief," Aiuto sighed, "I'm starting to run low on aura to heal everyone."

"I was hoping to fight more robots actually," Dia shrugged.

"…'Standard'?" Pyrrha repeated in a worried tone.

"Yeah…that's the bad news," Baltazar winced, "Once the last droid is killed we're going to have to deal with one of the advance droids that Papymon developed in case a large group of droids are destroyed. She wasn't able to stop that one from coming and as soon as the last droid is down, then it'll show up, but if we leave it alive, she might be able to-"

_*BOOM*_

"Oh yeah! Last one is down!" Nora cheered, before noticing that everyone was looking at her with fear and disbelief. "What?"

"…Welp, we're boned," Cody stated in a defeated tone.

"Oh come on, Cody, don't be like that," Levy said.

"Are fighting what I think we're fighting, Baltazar?" Cody asked his brother, who just nodded grimly, "Then yeah, we're boned."

"Don't be overdramatic," Weiss scolded, "It can't be that bad, can it?"

Before either of the brothers could say anything, the sounds of heavy footsteps could be heard from the smoke cause by Nora's last assault. As the smoke cleared, a large, ten foot android emerged. Unlike the others, this one was carrying an actual weapon; a large and lethal looking flamethrower. The droid's head looked different than the others, as it looked like a helmet with a T-Rex design instead of the standard heads of the AK-130 drones.

"Pardon me for saying this, but what the f**k is with this dude?" Ash asked as he gestured to the giant droid.

Baltazar's eyes went wide as he saw the flamethrower starting to glow, "Take cover!"

The four teams jumped behind the elevated display cases, protecting them from the stream of fire that was coming at them.

"It just had to be that thing…" Baltazar groaned.

"What _is _that thing!?" Jaune shouted hysterically.

"That's the giant variation of the new pyro droid that my cousin Ray developed about a year ago," Baltazar explained, "Normally these things are pretty docile, even friendly at times, but once they set their sights on a target, they've become merciless killers."

"_That _thing is friendly!" Ash shouted this time.

"Papymon has a personal one that he treats as a pet back at his home," Cody sighed, "It's even wearing a sombrero that our little sister bought for it a few days ago."

Everyone just stared at the young weapons smith in disbelief.

"We're getting off track here, people, focus!" Baltazar ordered, "Now, the best way to take out giant droids like this is with a powerful strike at its weak points, but that's harder than its sounds. These droids hare heavily armored and it's going to take a lot of ammo and aura to damage it. It's especially hard with this one because of this one annoying skill that this thing has."

"And what skill is that?" Chrona asked fearfully.

"Let's just say that using projectiles like my shuriken, Dia's arrows or Nora's grenades will be a bad idea at this point," Baltazar said sheepishly.

"You might want to tell them that," Blake stated as she pointed at Dia and Nora, who just fired a bomb arrow and grenade at the giant pyro droid. What happened immediately after greatly stunned the group of hunters to be. The droid made no attempt to doge the attack, but instead released a blast of compressed air at the projectiles, redirecting and reflecting them back at their owners, but with a light blue shimmer on them.

"Hit the deck!" Cody shouted as everyone ducked in time to evade the wayward arrow and grenade, and turned around to see them strike the wall behind them with a larger than normal explosion.

"…And that's why using projectiles is a bad idea against that thing," Baltazar said as he glared at Dia and Nora, "That thing has the ability to redirect non-bullet projectiles to any place it wants with its compression blast, and is able to enhance them as well with a bit of Dust that is released alongside the blast of air.

"Hehe…sorry," Nora grinned nervously

"Yeah…me too," Dia apologized, "But I did find out where the thing's weak points are with my semblance. They're its head and torso, but they're heavily protected. I could barely sense them. If we're gonna take it out at those points, then we're gonna need something big to hit 'em with."

"Something big, eh?" Yang muttered before turning to Baltazar, "Hey Sparky…"

"I know, and I think it's our best shot," Baltazar nodded, "Guys, Yang and I will handle the weak points. Try and buy us some time while we get ready."

"Are you sure?" Weiss asked worriedly.

"Just do it, Weiss. We'll be fine," Yang ordered, her eyes turning red, "Sparky and I know what we're doing so just trust us, ok?"

"Are you guys doing what I think you're doing?" Ruby asked as those who can began to shoot at the giant pyro while the rest stood back, "Don't you two know how dangerous that skill is? You could get yourselves killed in the state you two are in!"

"We've practice this move plenty of times already, Ruby. We're not going to die," Baltazar said reassuringly. "The worst that could happen to us is either passing out or losing our shirts in the process." He then blinked a couple times and turned to Yang, "Did you remember to wear your-"

"Don't worry, I have it on," Yang nodded with a light blush before adopting a teasing grin, "Wanna see it?"

"And risk getting myself killed by Weiss once this is all over? No thank you," Baltazar chuckled as he shook his head.

"Well alright, but be careful you guys," Ruby said as she left to join the others.

"Think we can take it out?" Yang asked with a serious tone, pulling out a single shotgun slug with a dragon design on it.

"It's going to be tricky, but we'll pull it off," Baltazar confirmed, holding a vial of electric blue Dust with a tiger design on the bottle.

As the two of them prepared for their attack, the rest of the teens tried their hardest to wear down the giant droid.

"Damn…what a time to run out of ammo," Cody grumbled as he stared at his now empty light machine gun before shifting it back to a claymore and sheathing it. Looking around, he noticed a large, orange colored gun with a blade beneath it and let out a surprised gasp.

"That's Ray's prototype rifle knife thing! I remember him saying that he left the original weapon here instead of a replica because he wanted that thing hidden in plain sight!" Cody said almost excitedly before looking at the droid with a smug grin, "Well…let's see how that thing likes the taste of its creator's first weapon."

With that, Cody rushed over to the gun and dived towards it, narrowly dodging the stream of fire. New weapon on hand, the young teen took aim and fired what looked like a glowing green grenade at high speeds, much to his surprise. What shocked him more was that the droid didn't try to redirect it with a compression blast, but instead simply moved away and watched it bounce off the floor and into the ceiling, where it exploded in a green light.

"It bounces!" Cody shouted in disbelief as he stared at the gun in his hand, "Who designs a gun that bounces?" He sighed and chucked the weapon behind him, almost hitting Levy and Aiuto, "That was the worst gun ever…of all time."

"You might want to watch where you're at before you start throwing away someone else's weapons," Weiss said sternly as she appeared behind Cody, holding Baltazar's pistol sais. "You still remember how to use these things?"

"Do you?" Cody countered smugly as he and Weiss shifted the sais into their pistol forms and began firing.

"Ok guys, heads up! We're about to move!" Yang ordered.

Everyone turned to Yang and Baltazar and was shocked by what they saw. Below the two's feet were rings of fire and lightning that seemed to originate from their right hands. Their right hands themselves were glowing brightly with their respective elements, as if their fists were made of fire and lightning. The most surprising part however was what was happening to the pair. Yang's hair was lit aflame and they noticed that her feet were not touching the ground, showing that she was levitating slightly, while Baltazar seemed to be fading in and out of existence, vanishing from sight for one moment and reappearing the next, while the lightning itself remained visible.

"…Whoa," Cody said in awe, despite the fact that she has seen this before.

"That's what I said when I first saw it too," Jaune laughed.

"You ready, Sparky?" Yang asked, her eyes glowing bright red.

"Let's do this, _Quemadura_," Baltazar nodded, his eyes glowing dark blue, as he fully disappeared from sight, lightning and everything.

The blonde brawler nodded as she literally flew to the droid, the flames around her intensifying. The giant droid saw her and aimed its flamethrower at her, letting loose another stream of flames at its foe. Yang paused and smirked as the flames engulfed her, greatly scaring her friends, especially her sister. However, much to their surprise, the flames didn't even faze her. Once the torrent of flames stopped, everyone gapped as what appeared to be wings of fire could be seen coming out of her back.

The giant droid was about to fire again when suddenly its flamethrower was severed cleanly in two by a giant shuriken completely coated in electricity. Turning to the direction of where it came from, everyone saw Baltazar on the catwalk, no longer looking like he was disappearing every second but now his electrified hand had taken the shape of a clawed tiger paw. With a nod, the pair jumped towards the giant droid and struck it at its weak spots, the chest from Yang and the head from Baltazar. The moment their attacks struck, the droid began to convulse as a burst of fire was released from behind the droid while it was also being thoroughly electrocuted by the head down. After a few moments the robot collapsed in a smoking heap of metal, with its attackers still connected to it. The two removed their hands from the fried machine and slowly picked themselves up, exhausted by what they just pulled off.

"Wow…" Weiss muttered, looking at Baltazar.

"You can say that again," Ruby said, looking at Yang.

"Is it over now?" Jaune asked hopefully.

"God I hope so…" Cody grumbled, "Excuse me for saying this, but man…that thing was a dick."

"No argument there," Ash nodded.

Back at the defeated robot, Yang and Baltazar were panting heavily, trying hard to stay awake, as the fighting and the stunt they recently pulled began to take effect on the pair.

"You know…the thing with the fire wings? That was just showing off," Baltazar joked weakly.

"Like your one to talk," Yang attempted to laugh, "You shaped your attack into a set of claws just to impress Weiss, didn't you?"

"…Maybe," The lightning ninja shrugged, "So...ready to pass out now?"

"Yup," Yang nodded, and at that moment, the pair collapsed, allowing the darkness of sleep take over them.

The large group of teens circled around the unconscious pair with proud looks on their faces while Aiuto and Levy check on them.

"So that's what they're planning to teach you, Jaune?" Ren asked his leader.

"My own version of it anyways," Jaune confirmed, "It'll be easier for me to learn it because my element isn't as volatile as their elements. They told me that it took them years to perfect their technique because they will always risk burning or electrocuting themselves whenever they practiced it. In the end Yang and Baltazar used special ammunition and Dust to help them stabilize their attack and what you guys saw was the result."

"The result included wings of fire and lightning claws?" Dia asked curiously.

"I think they were just showing off," Pyrrha giggled, "It doesn't take much concentration from their attack for shape manipulation. They probably wanted to impress us."

"That's cool, but how come your friend Yang didn't turn into charcoal when she got struck with that flamethrower?" Aiuto questioned, not noticing the glares coming from the fire brawler's teammates, "Not to mention the fact that she was floating for a moment and Baltazar looked like he was fading in and out of existence for a while there.

"It's because the technique grants them enhanced resistances to the element they use, unless it's self-inflicted," Jaune explained, "And as for the floating and fading, it's a side effect from their aura. Yang's fire affinity grants her minor flying abilities if she's channeling a lot of aura, while Baltazar's semblance interferes with his technique somewhat, and it takes a while for it to stabilize."

"Ah…" Weiss nodded before looking at her passed out friends with a soft smile, "They're something else, aren't they?"

"Got that right," Ruby grinned.

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

"Thanks for letting us come here, Cody," Jaune smiled at the young Tiger Faunus.

"It's not a problem. It's the least my family and I can do after all the trouble we put you guys in," Cody smiled back.

It was the next day and the Beacon fieldtrip group was currently at Rosary Park, a large park that housed many attractions, including a child's play area and a small skate park. The students and professors were invited to the Founders' Reunion as a request and an apology from Ramon. Shortly after the fight, Ramon decided that it was best to bring back regular security guards to the factory and no one argued against it, not even Maddie Burgundy, the one who came up with the idea of using androids as security. The three now bandaged teams that fought were promised a week off from classes as soon as they returned to Beacon from Ozpin, and the headmaster even promised the temporary team MAGI a place at his school once the new school year started, meaning that, like Ruby, Cody was going to jump ahead and join his brother and friends early as soon as the new year started.

"You're family has nothing to worry about, Cody," Blake assured, "After all, it's just an accident. We don't blame you all for that, not even Professor Ozpin or the other instructors."

"Besides, our teams are going to get the next week of classes off and are excused from writing the paper about Forjador City as a reward for doing so well against the droids," Dia grinned, "Not to mention you and your friends ended up with a guaranteed admittance to Beacon once the new school year starts. We should be thanking your family for this."

"Kinda sucks for Baltazar though…" Jaune mused, "He already did his report before he came here."

"I overheard him talking to Professor Ozpin about that actually," Blake said, "Since he did the report already, he's going to get extra credit for it. That offer's for all of us actually, but Ozpin told him first because he already did his."

"Speaking of which, where is Chief? And Weiss for that matter? I see everyone else here but not those two," Dia pointed out as she looked around the park. She saw Yang, Ruby and Levy talking to what Cody confirmed to be her leader's parents, a nervous Pyrrha being surrounded by kids with a laughing Ash behind her, and Nora having an arm wrestling match with the sombrero wearing android that Cody mentioned earlier with Ren shaking his head, but she saw no sign of Baltazar or Weiss anywhere.

"Oh, they're not here," Cody spoke up, "They're over at the cemetery across the street."

"The cemetery?" Blake repeated with an eyebrow raised, "Are they paying their respect to someone?"

"Yeah…" Cody answered softly as he turned to the direction of where his brother and sister figure were at.

At the cemetery, Baltazar and Weiss were seen praying in front of a tombstone with a stone emblem in the shape of a crescent moon with waves coming out of it, the same symbol that Levy has on her clothes and weapons.

"It's been a long time since we've visited you Abuelito," Baltazar said quietly, looking at the grave with his new eyes and repaired glasses, "I wanted to come sooner, but Papymon was making me work a lot so I wouldn't have to deal with the rude relatives that you didn't like so much. Sorry for the wait."

"I'm sure he understands," Weiss assured, "After all, you've been very busy since you got here."

"Still no excuse, though," Baltazar sighed before turning to the heiress, "Are you feeling any better now? You said that blow to the stomach hurt more than you expected."

"I'm fine, but I should be asking you that. After all, I'm not the one with bandages wrapped hands here," Weiss countered, pointing at her best friends somewhat damaged hands.

"You got a point," Baltazar laughed before looking back at his grandfather's grave before speaking once more. "I'm gonna combine them."

"What?" Weiss asked in confusion.

"Rayos y Truenos and Gentle Storms," The weapon modifier explained, "It's one of the things I've been working on since I got here. I've got the general idea on how to make it work, but I'm going to need to remove a few upgrades so it'll work properly, including the shuriken launcher and the mini scroll, but I'm sure it'll work out fine in the end."

"Combining your first weapon with one of your grandfather's signature weapons," Weiss summarized as she grabbed Baltazar's hand gently, "I bet he would be proud with how much work you put in with your weapons."

"Yeah…I think so too," Baltazar muttered softly before adopting a small smile, "So where do you think we should go once we get back?"

"Go?" Weiss repeated.

"For our first date," Baltazar grinned with a light blush, making Weiss blush as well, "I was kinda thinking we'd treat our trip to Rosso's as our first date, but I was thinking we should add a movie trip or something like that so it'll last longer. Is that ok?"

"…I'm ok with it," Weiss agreed softly, "But shouldn't there be something you should ask me first before we go out?"

"…There is?" Baltazar wondered, genuinely confused.

"You forgot to ask me to be your girlfriend, you goof," Weiss scolded affectionately, "If we're going to start dating, we should do it properly, which means asking me if I want to go out with you in the first place and asking Dad for permission if you could date me."

"Mr. Schnee already gave me the ok with it just before I came to Beacon," Baltazar grinned once more, "But you're right, I should ask first instead of assuming." He then turned to face his best friend with a warm smile and eyes filled with love and affection, "Weiss Schnee, would you do me the honor of being my girlfriend and go out with me once we get back home."

"I think the honor should be mine," Weiss whispered with a somewhat teary smile, "I'd love to go out with you, Baltazar Azul. I promise to be the best girlfriend you'll ever have."

"You're already the best girlfriend I ever had, not to mention my first and only girlfriend. And I intend to keep it that way," Baltazar stated seriously.

"Good," Weiss nodded as the two embraced each other lovingly. Weiss then looked up at her new boyfriend and spoke softly, "I love you."

"I love you too," Baltazar whispered back and embraced her tighter, both with truly happy smiles on their faces

"Let's head back," Weiss said as their embrace ended.

"Yeah, let's go," Baltazar nodded. Before the two left, he turned to his grandfather's grave once more and spoke in his native language, "_Hasta __luego__, __Abuelito__. __Te __amo__."_

"_Gracias, mi nieto, y te amo tambien__,__" _A calm, elderly voice echoed in the lightning ninja's head, _"__Le deseo suerte en su futuro__."_

"_Muchas gracias,__" _Baltazar whispered, tears forming in his eyes.

"Baltazar? Are you ok?" Weiss asked as she noticed the tears.

"…Better than ever, Weiss. Better than ever," Baltazar smiled as we wiped away his tears.

With that, the two left the cemetery hand in hand to rejoin the others at the park. The moment the pair returned, Baltazar was suddenly in a tight hug courtesy of his father Baltazar Sr., also known as Bo by many.

"Haha! There's my other heroic son!" Bo cheered as he held his oldest boy tightly, "I can't believe that I'm the father of not one, but two heroes! God I am so proud of you both!"

"Thank…you…Pop!" Baltazar rasped, his air supply cut off by his father's strong grip.

"Baltazar! Let go of your son this instant! You know he's still injured," Leti, Baltazar's mother and the woman Dia saw shopping with her leader yesterday, scolded her husband.

"Woops, sorry!" Bo laughed nervously as he dropped his son gently on to the ground. "Forgot you were still hurt, _hijo_."

"Don't worry about it, Pop," Baltazar assured as Weiss stood close by him again, "I had to deal with Yang's hugs when I was in worse conditions. That was nothing."

"Good to know," Bo nodded before grinning widely, "I saw the recording of the fight yesterday and I managed to hear the little conversation you had with Weiss after you protected her, and I have to say, it's about time! Wolke and I have been waiting for years for you two to get together and now it's finally happened! I can't wait to let him and Kalt know! They'll be ecstatic!"

"Pop!/Uncle Bo!" Baltazar and Weiss whined in embarrassment, a bright blush on their faces.

"Just remember that you two are still young, despite being near professional monster hunters," Leti warned sternly, "I don't know what you kids do in dates now, but remember to keep it clean, got it! I don't want to receive a call from the headmaster saying that I'm a grandmother!"

"Mom!/Aunt Leti!" The pair screamed, greatly mortified by what the elder woman was insinuating.

"Hey! You two should kiss!" Cody shouted out, gaining rounds of agreements from nearly everyone in the reunion party, especially his brother's and sister figure's friends.

"Do it!" Yang and Ruby agreed.

"It's the best feeling in the world, you two! Trust us!" Jaune and Pyrrha called out.

"Make yourselves happy and make us rich!" Ren and Levy shouted out, surprising most of their friends by what they were saying.

"…That's right, they bet that Balto and the Ice Princess would get together on something like this, didn't they?" Ash asked.

"Levy had it set during a field trip around this time while Ren had it set for a family gathering at any time," Dia said, looking through her betting notebook.

"Why did you let Ren place that bet in the first place?" Blake asked curiously.

"She didn't want Ren to feel left out even though the chance for winning the bet was kinda low for him," Nora shrugged as Dia nodded in agreement.

"…I hate our friends sometime," Weiss groaned as she rubbed her head to try and get rid of the headache that was coming.

"Join the club, we got jackets," Baltazar replied in a deadpanned tone.

"Come on, Cuz, give your Snow Princess some sugar!" A grinning young woman with wavy black hair teased.

"Stay out of this, Crystal!" Baltazar roared.

"Do it Weiss! Give him a big, wet kiss for all of us to see!" A buff looking black haired man laughed out.

"Don't make me turn you into a frozen piñata again, Ray!" Weiss shouted out angrily.

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" Everyone began chanting, much to the new couple's embarrassment.

"Oh great, they're not gonna stop," Baltazar groaned, "What are we gonna do now?"

"…Give them what they want," Weiss answered softly with a bright blush on her face.

"Say wha-mmph!" Baltazar was about to ask what Weiss said when the young heiress grabbed his shirt and trench coat, pulled him towards her and captured his lips with her own in a kiss, causing the party to erupt in cheers. Eyes widening for a moment, Baltazar soon relaxed and closed his eyes, pulling Weiss close to him, causing her to wrap her arms around his neck, and deepening the kiss. After what seemed like hours for the new couple, the two ended the kiss and took deep breaths, resting their foreheads with one another's.

"Wow…that was amazing," Baltazar said in a dazed, breathless tone, before blinking in confusion, "When did it started to get foggy here? And why are you laughing?"

Weiss was holding her stomach with one hand and covering her mouth with the other in an attempt to stop laughing, "Your glasses! They fogged up! Haha! I can't believe that actually happens!"

"What? My glasses fogged up?" Baltazar questioned as he removed his glasses to inspect them himself. "Holy crap, my glasses fogged up!"

"That must've been a pretty intense kiss if that happened, eh _hijo_?" Bo laughed at his son's stunned expression.

"…You got that right," Baltazar replied in a dazed tone, the kiss replaying in his head.

"Ok boy, snap out of it," Weiss giggled as he scratched behind her new boyfriend's ear, causing him to purr, "Don't forget that we're around people that will love to tease you right now. Here's not a good place to act like a love struck loon. Save it for when we get back home ok?"

"…Not sure if I can keep that promise Weiss," Baltazar admitted sheepishly, "In fact, I'm actually pretty content with being a love struck loon for a while if that's ok."

"So long as you're my love struck loon," Weiss agreed as the pair kissed again, much to their guests' amusement.

"I think they forgot that they're not alone here again," Glynda said with an amused tone.

"Let them be, Glynda," Ozpin smiled as he took a drink of hot chocolate provided by Baltazar's youngest sibling, Sarah. "The bond that those two share has evolved into something that is very rare in our world. It's quite a sight to see, especially to those who've known those two for years."

"You speaking as if they're getting engaged, sir, not just going out," Glynda pointed out.

"In due time, Glynda," Ozpin stated, "Give it a few years…probably shortly after they graduate. I expect a wedding invitation to show up in our mail eventually."

Glynda shook her head at her boss's comment and set her sights back to the lightning ninja and the Dust fencer. She will admit that the pair looked quite happy together, happier than she had ever seen them during her time with them. Maybe Ozpin's words had some merit. Be that as it may, it seems that Beacon now has a new couple to look after now. The blonde professor silently wished her students luck in the future…and hoped that there will be strawberry cake in their wedding.

Author's note:

And there you have it, the chapter that brought a ninja and an heiress together! I have to say that I'm pretty happy with this chapter, especially during the fight scenes. It took me a long time to get them right and I think it worked out well. This chapter showed off more of the Team BLAD's fighting style along with the temporary team MAGI's fighting style as well. As most of you can guess, Chrona is based on Crona from Soul Eater, weapon and all, but he also has bits of Kotomi Ichinose from Clannad in him as well, especially the violin bit. Kira's weapons are simply revolver versions of Ren's weapons but with the power to drain the energy of almost anything that is stabbed by the blades, while Aiuto's weapon is based on a rapid fire version of the Crusader's Crossbow from Team Fortress 2. An example of the rapid fire capabilities can be seen in anangrysockpuppet's video "Pop it, Don't Drop it." Baltazar's original weapon was shown here and will be integrated into Gentle Storms. How this will affect his fighting style will be revealed in a couple chapters. This chapter also revealed Baltazar and Yang's strongest techniques, which are based on Kakashi Hatake's Lightning Blade from Naruto and Monkey D. Luffy's Gum Gum Red Hawk from One Piece. All in all, I'm quite happy with this chapter and I hope all of you liked it too. Updates are going to be slowing down now due to school starting, but they'll be coming. Coming up is the Ski trip that was mentioned in the Christmas special, which will be one of the Life at Beacon updates, while the other update will be Baltazar and Weiss's first date…which will be monitored by their teams. I sincerely hoped you all enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you all later!

Translations:  
Nieto: Grandson  
No quiero saber: I don't want to know  
Encontré mi cuchillo: I found my knife  
Otra vez: Again  
Hasta luego, Abuelito. Te amo: See you later, Grandpa. I love you  
Gracias, mi nieto, y te amo tambien: Thank you my grandson, and I love you too  
Le deseo suerte en su futuro: I wish you luck in your future  
Muchas gracias: Thank you very much


End file.
